Calcutta Mail Hindi Movie
Much delayed Calcutta Mail finally arrived on Friday. The film, being a Sudhir Misra film with stars like Anil Kapoor and Rani Mukherjee, has lived up to its high expectations. Following his critically acclaimed Is Raat Ki Subah Nahi, Sudhir Misra once again captures the feel of the underbelly of a city extremely well.
The story begins at the Howrah Station and traverses through Kolkata's red light area, Sonagachi, the pot-holed streets and its chawls.
Mishra has shown Kolkata in its true element, with its teeming millions, packed trams, swanky metro, Howrah Bridge and countless rallies.
Though the director has tried to move away from his 'arty' image, he hasn't gone all out. You still find an odd song here and there which jars your senses. The story is structured around the criminalisation of politics in Bihar and the scene shifts to Kolkata.
Avinash (Anil Kapoor), gets caught in a messy affair involving a high profile politician's daughter (Manisha Koirala). He comes to Kolkata looking for Lakhan Yadav (Sayaji Shinde) and finds help from Bulbul (Rani Mukherjee). Rani plays an efferversent writer, who changes her identity in order to understand 'chawlwallas' better for her novels.
As always Anil Kapoor is brilliant in the role of an intense and emotional Avinash. Rani lends some lovely light moments to the film. Satish Kaushik is seen after a long gap and surprisingly in a negative role. Sayaji Shinde and Saurav Shukla have performed well as baddies. Veteran actor, Deven Verma, also plays a small role in the film.
Unfortunately the film loses its grip towards the end and the climax is a bit too long. Other than that it's a pretty watchable film.
