Hawa Badal Bengali Movie
Hawa Badal, the second directorial venture of Parambroto Chattopadhyay, was set for a win and of course was built up with certain ingredients to bring about a much awaited change within the Bengali cinema paradigm. The stage was set, the actors were all geared up but something was not right and the film did not really set about that spark, which was most awaited for. Much like 'Jiyo Kaka', Parambrata tried doing a lot with his direction venture but, was unable to smoothen and failed to bring the hint of perfection in the film.
Hawa Badal literally means a change in the air, a fresh feeling. Satrajit (Parambroto Chattopadhyay) and Rajarshi (Rudranil Ghosh) were the best of pals back in their college life. Years after it was a chance meeting that brought the two face to face. While Satrajit had gone much ahead in his life and has climbed up the corporate ladder quite decently Rajarshi is still a struggling musician. He is too irresponsible in life and is a playboy. Music and woman are just his two entertainments in life. While Parambroto has become a decent gentleman, who is now married to Tanuka (Raima Sen). The story from here takes on a twisted turn and in moments time there is a role reversal. What happens when two people remain the same physically but their soul gets swapped? Does the story actually ring a bell?
Director Parambroto Chottopadhyay's 'Hawa Bodol' from this point onwards presents an interesting story and somehow lives up to the expectation by maintaining the comical balance. However if you are familiar with world cinema, then at every point you will be lead back to seek for references in both story and screenplay.
Acting is one of the strengths of 'Hawa Badal'. Rudranil steals the show with his original flawless natural self. Unlike the posters, wherein Raima is so dominant, she has very less to do in the film. The director himself as an actor presents himself as a brilliant actor on screen, much like always and helps in holding in to the charm of the film. However it is the stylist turned actor Neha Panda who ultimately proves the idea of a change by being totally grounded through the film and is indeed a fresh feel for Bengali cinema that we have waited for all these years.
Music by music director Indradeep Dasgupta truly deserves a lot of praises and of course singers Vishal Dadlani and Sunidhi Chauhan deserves a special mention. Music helps in keeping the film together. Music is of course one more strength for Hawa Badal.
Parambroto Chattopadhyay has tried to wear too many hats at the same time, but was not able to perfectly wear even one of them. To summarize, Hawa Badal could have been a change from the regular, but somehow it disappointed not being a hardcore original.
