Dracula Sir
Ratings: 3.2/5
Duration: 127 Minutes
Language: Bengali
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Director: Debaloy Bhattacharya
Writers: Debaloy Bhattacharya, Kallol Lahiri
Producer: Shrikant Mohata, Mahendra Soni
Music: Amit Chatterjee, Ishan Mitra, Saqi, Durjoy
Cinematography: Indranath Marick
Editing: Sanglap Bhowmick
Released On: 21 October 2020
Star Cast: Anirban Bhattacharya, Bidipta Chakraborty, Mimi Chakraborty, Rudranil Ghosh, Saayoni Ghosh, Kanchan Mullick, Judhajit Sarkar
Plot:
It is the year 1971 in the city of Calcutta. A clear remembrance of an era where Maoists terror was at an all-time peak. In the flashback, a Naxal youth named Amol is being led by the police. The youth seemed to have been tortured and the environment is unpleasant as if something terrible is about to occur. And then, there is a gunshot followed by a blackout.
Now, we are in 2020, in the present time of Kolkata. A man (Anirban Bhattacharya) is making an omelette for dinner as his landlord yells at him from the other side of the wall— since he doesn’t pay his rent on time. He wears a morose look.
That man—his name is Raktim Chowdhury who is none other than the reincarnated soul and body of Amol. Anirban in this life is a schoolmaster, who by the virtue of his profession is bestowed with a place of privilege in the society. But things are not easy for Raktim given his unusual physical appearance.
He is seen covering his mouth while speaking as it reveals his pair of fangs. Due to this, he is being made fun of by his students. At one occasion, one of his students goes and write on the blackboard Dracula Sir.
The irony is that on one hand, people are scared of him because of his unusual physical feature; on the other, he is always at the receiving end of ridicule and bullying.
In the last life that is in 1971, Raktim was a wanted Maoist, Amol, was secretly sheltered by his beloved Manjari (Mini Chakraborty) in the palatial mansion of her dead husband. The memories of that life even today come to haunt Raktim.
Submissive and vulnerable, Raktim looks forward to leading a simple life but is continuously haunted by the ghost of Amol and Manjari, who were severely tortured by the police in their era. The mild schoolteacher's unfulfilled dream of reuniting with his love and bringing about a revolution find expression in sudden violent outbursts.
Review:
Dracula Sir is a film about dichotomy, reincarnation and existential crisis. There is a rebirth at many levels. Dealing with everything from political ideology and society to human bonds and emotions, the film has a complex narrative.
Due to such a complex structuring, it takes a viewer a good 10 minutes to get into the groove of the script and sync with it. There is enough drama, a bit of thrill and goriness, which the director has gone overboard with. But the direction is clear and to-the-point, the cinematic frames apt and the dialogues lucid.
The screenplay is engaging but not without its share of flaws. But to confuse the audience and keep them guessing, the story twists and turns every second towards the end, which is uncalled for. On a lighter note, it is like a journey into the mind of a hallucinating patient.
As Raktim goes about seeking the truth, the audience has no option but to make sense of the confusing narrative. In the scenes like the one where a psychiatrist tries to reason with Raktim on why he thinks he is Amol Shome reborn after his death in the '70s, the tussle between reason and belief is explained well. But that does not happen with most of the scenes in the movie. Many scenes feel like a bit of a stretch.
The one part where the movie loses its audience is when Raktim dresses up as Dracula but looks more like the Joker. It seems to have been forced into the screenplay. Mostly certainly, there could have been better ways of connecting Raktim's instinct to take revenge in 2020.
Anirban who plays the lead in the movie is hard to be overshadowed. He with his acting skills in the two different portrayals of Raktim and Amol from two different eras makes the whole idea more believable. Mimi is measured in her approach as a widow, who later meets her former lover, Amol. In a film that is full of Anirban, Bidipta's short but powerful performance deserves a special mention.
The music is one of the biggest highlights of the film - be it the lilting tune in the background when the two lovers, Amol and Manjari, meet or the beautiful lyrics that represent Amol and Raktim's defeated selves in their respective lives.
The recent Netflix film, Bulbbul, imagined a Churail origin story in the oppression of women in late 19th century Bengal which was a great portrayal of old beliefs and the way to look at it in current times. The makers of Dracula Sir also tried to draw such a resemblance. But the movie shies away from the supernatural phenomenon it promised us at the start. The explanation, in the end, feels like a betrayal.
Overall, Dracula Sir is a passionate piece of work that seems to lack in reason at times. But yes, it is a film you shouldn’t give a miss!
