Durja Puja is the biggest festival in the Bengali calendar. Bengalis from all over the country, even the world, usually tend to travel home to be with family and enjoy the festivities together. This forms the crux of Sumit Saurav‘s “WTFish”.
Rangan and his friend, both Bengalis, share a flat in Bangalore, where they live for work. Durga Puja is fast approaching but the friend has had his leave application rejected at his workplace, or so he tells Rangan. His mother gets a completely different excuse. To console his sad and angry friend, Rangan decides to do away with his own holiday and cancels his tickets to Kolkata, instead deciding to stay with his friend and cheer him up. His drunk friend is adamant on celebrating Durga Puja and Rangan promises to hold a Durga Puja in their dingy flat in Bangalore by themselves.
Once again, like “E H D”, Sumit Saurav’s “WTFish” is also dialogue-heavy. Where it succeeds is at giving a good look at the lives and living conditions of people staying far away from home, either for work or studies, particularly those living as paying guests. The lack of funds, missing of important festivities while away from family and the (unfair) sharing of duties, all hit home. The last one, in particular, comes as no surprise in the context of the characters because the friend here is an extremely selfish and unlikable person who just manages to always get his way and takes unfair advantage of Rangan. Rangan, on the other hand, comes across as a rather meek and impressionable person, even if his heart is in the right place.
The film falters the most in its technical qualities, which is understandable considering its evident low-budget. The cinematography of the one-location setting makes it look rather dull and uninspiring and could have done with being better lit. Sound suffers the most and is given a rather uneven treatment. For example, when the friend talks to his mother on the phone, the mother’s voice is crisp and well recorded, whereas later in the film, the conversation between the two boys over the phone sounds like a straight phone recording. Dialogue recording also suffers similarly, with some instances lower in volume than the rest. Acting from both the actors is serviceable, even if the inexperience shows through.
“WTFish” has some decent ideas and Sumit Saurav shows promise, infusing comedy with drama here and there. If the production values can be improved upon, there’s definitely potential. And someone please tell me what those marks around Rangan’s eyes were for!
