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Film Review: Ek Je Chhilo Raja (2018) by Srijit Mukherji

is a director , who likes to re-invent himself with every new movie of his with an unique story-telling and directorial approach. “” is a film where he depicts a court room drama from history book with subtle touches of emotions, with a narrative which has a flare of mystery and suspense. The cohesiveness of a complex story line and the cinematic grandeur has made it one of the best efforts in the history of modern . The movie is based on the famous Bhawal Sanyasi Case about a possible imposter, claimed to be the prince of Bhawal , considered to be dead a decade back.

The famous case of Bhawal revolves around Mahendra Kumar Chowdhury (), the second prince of Bikrampur, who was infamous for his wild nightlife and drinking habits. Mahendra Kumar Chowdhury gets married to Chandravati Devi (Rajnandini Paul) without his will and under family pressure. But their conjugal relationship never blooms as Mahendra prefers courtyard dancers over his wife. Eventually, Mahendra is infected with syphilis and is taken to Darjeeling for treatment by his brother-in-law, Satya (Anirban Bhattacharya), along with family physician Ashwini (Rudranil Ghosh)  and wife Chandravati. But Satya and Ashwini conspire to kill Mahendra in Darjeeling, by giving him venomous injections. Mahendra dies in Darjeeling. And after nearly a decade a Naga Sannyasi (monk) comes back to Bikrampur and his uncanny similarities with Mahendra make people believe him as the “dead” second prince of the state. The famous case of Bhawal is fought for more than two decades on the series of incidents, till Mahendra is accepted by the court as the real prince of Bikrampur.

The movie has many characters, and director Srijit Mukherji handles them intelligently and places them perfectly in the script to maintain the flow of the narrative and to bring in the aura of a thriller in a courtroom drama. has been brilliant as Mrinmayee Devi, sister of Mahendra. She is an outstanding actress and her character goes through different shades and the director uses numerous close shots to capture the expressions and emotions of her face with perfection. Anirban Bhattacharya and Rudranil Ghosh both live up to the expectations and portray their characters with impeccability. Rajnandini Paul is a newcomer and has nothing much to portray in the narrative but plays her part convincingly.

The surprise of the movie is Jisshu Sengupta, who has been used masterly by Srijit Mukherjee in this movie. The director has exploited the personal traits of Jisshu in frame after frame with utter brilliance and merges it with the narrative perfectly.  His body language, look and movements as the Naga Sannyasi and as Mahendra is outstanding. The character of Mahendra has gone through multiple shades and emotional tussles and Jisshu has undoubtedly given his best and most convincing performance till date.

“Ek Je Chhilo Raja” is a director's movie and Srijit Mukherji does a magnificent job in bringing out the aura of a courtroom drama with subtle touches of emotions. The characters of Lawyer Anupama Basu () and Lawyer Bhaskar Mukherjee () have been pitted against each other in the legal battleground and it blends perfectly with the narrative. The director uses both the characters to uphold multiple statements , even their failed relationship is used intelligently for the purpose of depicting some emotional truth about life.

The music direction of Indraadip Dasgupta has been excellent in the movie, and  Sahana Bajpaie's  “Maharajo Eki Saaje” turns out to be a classic. Srijit uses the song with stylish cinematography as a statement to bring out the essence of a lost time.  “Esho Hey” of Shreya Ghoshal and Ishan Mitra is beautifully rendered and cinematographed.

Details hold an important part in a movie like “ Ek Je Chhilo Raja”, spreading over a time frame of nearly half a century. In the beginning of the movie, the threads coming out from the clothes of Mrinmayee while talking to Mahendra, the showing of Baijis (Sreenanda Shankar)  as less skilled dancers ( the so called mujra dancers were expected not to be that skilled those days) are few examples of Srijit's perfect detailing in the movie. Editing of Pronoy Dasgupta has been timely and the cinematography of Gairik Sarkar has been aesthetically poised.

As a director, Srijit Mukherji loves to experiment and it has been imprinted on all his efforts till date.  We all have our personal favourites but considering the complexity of the narrative and the huge canvas of portrayal, the enormous effort the entire team of “Ek Je Chhilo Raja” has put in, it should be considered as one of the most successful efforts in the history of modern-day Bengali (Indian) cinema.

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