Four love stories linked by one common person: woman is a theme that many filmmakers have brought on the big screen time and again. While Srijit Mukherji's latest 'Nirbaak' is based on this theme, the love stories are so strikingly different that they may leave the viewer 'nirbaak' (speechless in Bengali) because in his latest, Mukherji not only speaks of human emotions but also of a dog and a tree.
The film opens with singer, filmmaker Anjan Dutta playing Samson Gomez, a hyper-narcissist who can't have enough of himself. Gomez french kisses his own image the first thing in the morning, gets frazzled when he loses sight of himself for a minute and even masturbates to his own image. A loner by nature, he only seems to be mildly friendly with a girl in the park. The same girl (Sushmita Sen) is also the object of affection of a tree in the park where she often visits. Sitting under it, on a bench, the girl spends numerous afternoons texting her boyfriend and even takes a nap. And the tree caresses her with its leaves, it's cool, comforting shadows.
The third story is a of a bitch in love with her master (Jisshu Sengupta), so much so that she can't tolerate the presence of his better half. Perhaps the most endearing story of them all, with an equally exasperating end, this love story brings a smile to one's face. Fourth and the final story has a morgue caretaker falling head over heels for a corpse and fantasizing a life with it.
Mukherji has always dealt with very different themes and subjects in his films. From narrating a story of a fading superstar in his first film 'Autograph' to giving an insight into Antony Firingee's life in 'Jatishwar', Mukherji's films have always engaged, entertained the audience and made them think. But sadly, 'Nirbaak' doesn't really do any of these. While the thought of narrating unusual love stories is definitely different yet the film falls short in so many areas making the viewer question some very unreal situation. Like one can't fathom how a tree 'ejaculates' seeing a girl sleeping under it or a dog being able to open a moving vehicles' door on its own. The emphasis on silence is a lot in the film and ideally that should give the actors a lot of scope to emote but that doesn't happen either.
Among the actors, Anjan Dutta tries a tad too hard to play the narcissist to perfection. Besides seeing the aging actor mostly in his underpants is a repulsive sight on screen and takes away a lot from the basic story. Sushmita Sen and Jisshu Sengupta, the only two normal characters in the film are good but there is so much more that could be done to tap these two actors' talents. The one who shines, inspite of a weak story line is actor Ritwick Chakraborty as the morgue caretaker in love with a corpse. His track features some 90s Bollywood songs which are very aptly used to fill in the silences and take the story forward.
Like all of Mukherji's film, technically 'Nirbaak' is quite sound. It has crisp editing. Beautiful shots of Kolkata during monsoon makes the city and its ambiance come alive on screen, the background score by Neel Dutta also blends in well though one misses some classic songs which have now become synonymous to Srijit Mukherji films.
While 'Nirbaak' tries to attempt something very radical, it somewhere falls short due to its ambiguous plot. Perhaps, the fimmaker stretches his creative license to such an extent that it turns rather abstract and fails to create an impact.
Rating: 2/5
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