Antaheen

First post on a specific film, no doubt first of many to come. Managed to watch the Bengali film Antaheen earlier this week. I was a little apprehensive before watching it, as most of the Bengali off-beat films are pretty dark and depressing, but after watching Antaheen, I was pleasantly surprised. I haven't seen director Aniruddh Roy Chowdhury's first film Anuranan yet (despite having a copy of the film - although people who know me will vouch that that is something quite normal for me......), so didn't really know what to expect.

Antaheen is a film about relationships - about two people who start to fall in love by chatting online but not seeing each other, about a separated married couple who are still in love, and married couple living together with cracks in the relationship......... In all honesty, the film doesn't have a story as such, but the screenplay catches your attention from the start, and for the most part, this turns out to be quite an engrossing film, despite the leisurely pace. And what makes the film is the characters populating it - all of them are straight out of life. The 'lead pair' are played by Rahul Bose and Radhika Apte, but each of the supporting characters played by Aparna Sen, Sharmila Tagore, Mita Vashisht and Kalyan Ray stand out. Special mention go to Radhika Apte and Kalyan Ray - I think this may be their debut film, and they both shine in their roles. Radhika reminds you of a few people - but the closest comparison I can think of is a chilled out version of Nandita Das!!

Overall, this film is well worth a watch - and after it finishes, it stays with you, making you want to spend more time with your loved ones. I was knackered though, so I just went to bed.

First impressions......

I guess I should write something of some significance here.............but I'm won't bother trying. The reason I've set this up is because I'm supposed to be doing work, I can't be bothered, and I need something to occupy me for the next half hour or so until I go to bed.

So, I'm planning on posting on this every time I should be doing work and can't be bothered (which is fairly often). Posts will probably be about films (Hollywood, Bollywood, and Bengali films), music and books, and anything else I think of.

I'm currently watching Season 3 of Prison Break - I never got around to watching this when it was originally on TV, so brought the boxset of the first 3 seasons for around £50 (way cheaper than in HMV or somewhere), and have been working my way through it. It is well worth a watch, especially if you're into stuff like 24. Part of the reason I don't get much work done is that I end up trying to work in front of the TV.....................really should try another approach. My excuse that it's next to impossible to spend all day in the office staring at a computer screen, then to come home and do more work..........but I guess that's the nature fo the beast.

Anyway, only two days left to the weekend - bring it on!