Cast :
Saif Ali Khan .... Shekhar Rai
Vidya Balan ... Lolita
Sanjay Dutt .... Girish Babu
Raima Sen .... Koel
Diya Mirza .... Gayatri Tantia
Sabyasachi Chakravarthy .... Nabin Roy
Biplab Chatterjee .... Shyamlal
Achyut Potdar .... Gurucharan (as Achyut Poddar)
Surinder Kaur
Rekha
Crew :
Directed by : Pradeep Sarkar
Producer: Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Writing credits : Saratchandra Chatterjee (novel), Vidhu Vinod Chopra (screenplay)
Music: Shantanu Moitra Lyrics: Swanand Kirkire
Cinematography: N. Nataraja Subramanian
Art Direction: Keshto Mondal, Tanushree Sarkar, Pradeep Sarkar
Parineeta is yet another classic film (after Devdas) that is based on the nineteenth century Bengali writer, Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s novel by the same name. A directorial debut of ad-man Pradeep Sarkar, the movie impresses much. The book, originally based in 1914 was brought forward to the 1960’s by the filmmakers who wished to retain its old world charm and yet not make a ‘period’ film per se – old wine in new bottle approach. The contemporary story is about an affluent Bengali Bhadralok, Shekhar Babu (Saif) who is also a music director, Lolita (Vidya), his sweetheart - who is every man’s dream woman, including Girish (Sanjay).
Orphaned at a very young age, Lolita is brought up by her chacha-chachi in a haveli that is mortgaged to Shekhar’s businessman father. Everything is hunky-dory, till a bitter truth is revealed. As a result, Shekhar and Lolita’s relationship is tarnished due to misunderstandings and suspicion. There are a lot of ‘firsts’ attached to this film. Pradeep Sarkar, known for his ad-films and music videos, has shown some fine skill and great tact as the captain of the ship. His care for minute detailing – from the fall of drapery to the wonderful backdrops – makes Parineeta complete, in every sense of the word.
Debutante actress Vidya Balan is a bunch of talent. She has performed brilliantly. And shines in spite of impacting performances from Saif Ali Khan and Sanjay Dutt. Producer and co-writer, Vidhu Vinod Chopra was hesitant of casting Vidya at first. But in this one, the girl has proved her weight in salt. Music director Shantanu Moitra has also done a commendable first-time job. His melodies enhance the mood of the film, and do much in conveying the ‘unsaid.’
Noteworthy performances from the cast of Parineeta make this period drama a pleasure to watch. Sanjay Dutt looks a little old for his character. Raima Sen, regardless of a small role, makes an impression. A special mention of Diva Rekha in the song, “Kaisi Paheli Zindagani” is a must. Her snazzy persona is laudable. But stealing the show is none other than Saif Ali Khan, who strongly believes that the role of Shekhar Babu reminds him much of his (own) real-life dad, Nawab of Pataudi. This can easily be slated as the Khan’s best performance to date. Reportedly, the actor forced filmmaker Chopra to sign him on for the role. Now, after having watched the film, we would like to ask the actor the same question that V.V. Chopra did: “Where have you been all these years, Saif?” Kudos to the Khan for his supreme act!
Saif and Vidya share a fantastic on-screen chemistry. The film encompasses every aspect of a relationship between a man and a woman – love, loyalty, jealousy, trust, distrust, compatibility and dependence. The scenes in which she walks up to his cupboard and helps herself to his pocket money are beautiful. From their fighting sequences to the passionate ones, these two make you want to fall in love all over again.
As co-writers, Vidhu Chopra and Pradeep Sarkar have done a great job on the screenplay. They have done well in capturing and projecting the spirit of Calcutta (now Kolkata), way back in 1962. With trams and rickshaws and (annual festival of) Durga Pujas, the resurrection of the ‘Paris of the East’ – as Calcutta was popularly described – is indeed commendable.
Also, some scenes simply leave you spell-bound - When Shekhar gets up in the middle of the night and expresses his anger by playing the piano with such vigour causing the glass of water standing at the edge of the musical instrument to fall and break or the staircase scene where Shekhar is accusing Lolita of ‘selling-out’ to Girish.
Nevertheless, a few parts of the film make Parineeta not so perfect. The film begins with a slow pace. And some situations mar the realism associated with the otherwise truly realistic piece of cinema. Like, the climax scene (where Shekhar’s breaking the wall) or Lolita’s reaction to Girish’s blasphemous dialogues on his entrance make it a bit too unreal (read a typical Hindi commercial flick).
An example of good cinema, Parineeta is definitely worth a watch – for the colour, charm, grandeur, realism, entertainment and some exemplary work of art by those involved in it.
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| Reviewed By: Saqib |
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