Ray film overview: Manoj Bajpayee, Gajraj Rao, Chandal Roy Sanyal shine in Netflix anthology

Ray film forged: Manoj Bajpayee, Gajraj Rao, Raghubir Yadav, Manoj Pahwa; Kay Kay Menon, Rajesh Sharma, Bidita Bag, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Kharaj Mukherjee; Ali Afzal, Shweta Basu Prasad, Anindita Ghosh; Harshavardhan Kapoor, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Radhika MadanRay film administrators: Abhishek Chaubey, Srijit Mukerjee, Vasan BalaRay film score: 2 stars
The new four-part Netflix anthology, primarily based on quick tales by Satyajit Ray, is a blended bag. One section stands out, one other has promise and the opposite two don’t elevate off the display screen.
No prizes for guessing which one tops the listing. ‘Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa’, directed by Abhishek Chaubey, has a bunch of the very best actors working in Hindi cinema. Manoj Bajpayee performs Musafar Ali, a dapper ‘dil-phenk’ ghazal singer, oozing with old-style ‘shayarana andaaz’. Gajraj Rao is Aslam Baig, a former wrestler whose ‘dhobhi pacchhaad’, a sophisticated ‘kushti’ transfer, is legendary from ‘Dilli to Agrey’ (solely familiars will smile at using ‘Agrey’ for ‘Agra’).
Sharing a fateful practice journey, in a type of near-forgotten cosy coupes, Ali and Baig joust with one another, and previous secrets and techniques, involving kleptomania and a fateful twist in fortunes, come tumbling out.
The clattering of the rails, the swaying of the compartment, the stillness of these watching, all come collectively on this section, wherein Bajpayee twinkles from behind his shiny spectacles, Rao is on the highest of his sport, and also you pay attention with pleasure to the sort of flowery language that’s gone lacking from the flicks because the ‘Muslim social’ was deep-sixed.
Raghubir Yadav and Manoj Pahwa have walk-on elements, and that’s all they want. My solely niggle with this solidly-produced, well-designed section is that this journey stays determinedly nice and placid. I stored ready for the customary sharp edge, a lot part of Abhishek Chaubey’s arsenal.
What occurs when an actor (Harshvardhan Kapoor) who has coasted on simply ‘one look’ will get caught in a bind, not solely of his personal making? ‘Spotlight’ presents up an insider view of showbiz and the attendant shallowness that’s such an intrinsic a part of it. The devoted secretary (Chandan Roy Sanyal) who is aware of precisely which buttons to push to maintain his consumer on observe, the sonny boy’s mummy who has full religion in him, and the younger man of restricted expertise himself, stuffed with insecurities and doubt and bluster.
The comic-book bits on this one reminds you of Bala’s ‘Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota’, however ‘Spotlight’ is just not kooky sufficient. Radhika Madan, who was such a delight within the earlier movie, doesn’t fairly fill out her a part of the madly widespread Didi, whose ft are worshipped by her ‘bhakts’. There’s one thing right here, a sending up of blind fandom in each hokey faith and present enterprise. Bala who offers himself the function of a director in a blinding Hawaiian shirt is gorgeous. And why don’t we see extra of Roy Sanyal, who completely aces his half?
The different two, ‘Bahurupi’ and ‘Forget Me Not’, each directed by Srijit Mukherji, are disappointing. Not as a result of the actors aren’t attempting. Kay Kay Menon, as an knowledgeable make-up artist who will get caught between a rock and a really exhausting place, will get a task that’s worthy of him. When you place a masks on, what occurs to the important you? Can you disguise your self so efficiently that you just disappear? Intriguing questions, and also you await the solutions. They arrive, a lot too underlined, too overstated. And that’s additionally the issue with ‘Forget Me Not’ too, which is a few extremely profitable, extraordinarily egotistic man who prides himself on his reminiscence (Ali Afzal) being despatched on a stunning mind-bender. There’s a lesson in right here: delight does come earlier than a mighty fall, and nothing lasts for ever.
Each section is almost an hour lengthy. Choose properly.