Pronounced Kawn-Tho
Director: Shiboprosad Mukherjee, Nandita Roy Year: 2019 Genre: Drama
As with all other film industries, and maybe more than many others, Tollywood is ridiculed for its disappointing remakes and predictable action flicks, but even with dozens of soulless flicks being produced, directors like Shiboprosad and Nandita are keeping the artistic, beautiful storytelling alive, and they deserve a boatload of credits for their attempts.
I have seen most of Shiboprosad and Nandita's combined directorial movies, and 'Kontho', to me is the best amongst all of the movies they ever made. And this comes from a fan of other films they made, full of soul and beauty; Indeed, 'Kontho' is on a different level.
In the age of devastation caused by Cancer, 'Kontho' tries to give the affected a hope to survive, especially those afflicted by throat cancer. The leading character here, RJ Arjun (a radio jockey), suffers throat cancer and an operation removes his larynx. The story that continues is a tremendous showing of how quickly the diseased can come back when they are kept mentally warm.
Shiboprosad, the co-director himself, plays the lead role of RJ Arjun, making a grand comeback to acting after an inexplicable hiatus (the role in 'Haami' wasn't a lead role, ofcourse). When the movie starts, He plays the role of a RJ perfectly, mesmerizing us with his voice and his speaking skills, all while we see him helping people out mentally, through the voice of the radio, including saving a girl from an immediate suicide.
Although Arjun brings happiness to the listeners of his show, and his family and friends are close to him, his quarter-century year long smoking habit results in throat cancer, and a surgery saves his life while taking away his biggest asset, his voice. His character then rapidly changes, playing emotionally volatile as a man would be under such circumstances.
Shiboprosad brings his full might into this power-packed performance, earning sympathy and admiration from the viewers. He shows such tremendous comfort as a 'speechless' man that it seems almost magically real. One of the best single performances I have ever seen, and I hope he gets some much-deserved awards for this performance.
Obviously, Arjun couldn't have succeeded without the help of his family and friends. Paoli Dam plays his wife, showing love and concern for her husband, while also showing childish envy towards his speech teacher Romila Chowdhury (Jaya Ahsan). This Romila helps Arjun in the most unpredictable yet highly accurate ways, and feels an attraction towards him at the end. Koneenica Banerjee plays Indrani, a friend who vows to never 'leave Arjun alone' and keeps his promise.
Comedy is an influential part of this film. Pritha's father joking about the financial instability of RJs was pretty funny. The iconic veteran Paran Bandopadhyay and fellow veteran Chitra Sen brings more humor into the fray.
This redemption-based story couldn't have survived without a few twists or two, one of which links Arjun to Romila in a clever way. Again, the story is sometimes predictable and drags somewhat in the second half, but the knock-out ending throws away the little drag to a considerable distance.
The background music is fitting to the scenes needing it, especially a recurring theme. And the songs, one of which I presume is by Anupam Roy are excellent to listen to.
If you like Bengali or regional movies, then do watch this, atleast for this once in a lifetime performance by Shiboprosad.
CONCLUSION: 'Kontho', an admirable story of a cancer survivor never giving up, is fueled by Shiboprosad's performance of a lifetime, and beauty to help us smile.
4.3/5
Director: Shiboprosad Mukherjee, Nandita Roy Year: 2019 Genre: Drama
As with all other film industries, and maybe more than many others, Tollywood is ridiculed for its disappointing remakes and predictable action flicks, but even with dozens of soulless flicks being produced, directors like Shiboprosad and Nandita are keeping the artistic, beautiful storytelling alive, and they deserve a boatload of credits for their attempts.
I have seen most of Shiboprosad and Nandita's combined directorial movies, and 'Kontho', to me is the best amongst all of the movies they ever made. And this comes from a fan of other films they made, full of soul and beauty; Indeed, 'Kontho' is on a different level.
In the age of devastation caused by Cancer, 'Kontho' tries to give the affected a hope to survive, especially those afflicted by throat cancer. The leading character here, RJ Arjun (a radio jockey), suffers throat cancer and an operation removes his larynx. The story that continues is a tremendous showing of how quickly the diseased can come back when they are kept mentally warm.
Shiboprosad, the co-director himself, plays the lead role of RJ Arjun, making a grand comeback to acting after an inexplicable hiatus (the role in 'Haami' wasn't a lead role, ofcourse). When the movie starts, He plays the role of a RJ perfectly, mesmerizing us with his voice and his speaking skills, all while we see him helping people out mentally, through the voice of the radio, including saving a girl from an immediate suicide.
Although Arjun brings happiness to the listeners of his show, and his family and friends are close to him, his quarter-century year long smoking habit results in throat cancer, and a surgery saves his life while taking away his biggest asset, his voice. His character then rapidly changes, playing emotionally volatile as a man would be under such circumstances.
Shiboprosad brings his full might into this power-packed performance, earning sympathy and admiration from the viewers. He shows such tremendous comfort as a 'speechless' man that it seems almost magically real. One of the best single performances I have ever seen, and I hope he gets some much-deserved awards for this performance.
Obviously, Arjun couldn't have succeeded without the help of his family and friends. Paoli Dam plays his wife, showing love and concern for her husband, while also showing childish envy towards his speech teacher Romila Chowdhury (Jaya Ahsan). This Romila helps Arjun in the most unpredictable yet highly accurate ways, and feels an attraction towards him at the end. Koneenica Banerjee plays Indrani, a friend who vows to never 'leave Arjun alone' and keeps his promise.
Comedy is an influential part of this film. Pritha's father joking about the financial instability of RJs was pretty funny. The iconic veteran Paran Bandopadhyay and fellow veteran Chitra Sen brings more humor into the fray.
This redemption-based story couldn't have survived without a few twists or two, one of which links Arjun to Romila in a clever way. Again, the story is sometimes predictable and drags somewhat in the second half, but the knock-out ending throws away the little drag to a considerable distance.
The background music is fitting to the scenes needing it, especially a recurring theme. And the songs, one of which I presume is by Anupam Roy are excellent to listen to.
If you like Bengali or regional movies, then do watch this, atleast for this once in a lifetime performance by Shiboprosad.
CONCLUSION: 'Kontho', an admirable story of a cancer survivor never giving up, is fueled by Shiboprosad's performance of a lifetime, and beauty to help us smile.
4.3/5