Nandita Roy and Shiboprasad has been raising the bar over the last few years and with Bela Sheshe they had set a benchmark for themselves.

Praktan lives up to the duos much deserved fame.

The two directors have set up a style. They bring back an old pair and narrate a story of two people in a way that makes the audience feel like its their life on celluloid. It is their ability to choose a particular string of the heart and strum it in ways that will make your eyes swell.

Rituparna Sengupta is an architect, an independent modern woman, loves her man so deeply that fails to recognise that her success brews jealousy in his heart.

Prasenjit Chatterjee is a middle class tour guide running his own business, has a busy schedule, actually a romantic but doesn't have time for his wife, is dominating, prefers to be the knight in shining armour and wants his wife to be the damsel, not in distress but always dependant on him.

All goes well at first but love flies out the window when money matters come barging in through the door. Prasenjit's character Ujjan oversees the love of his wife when she gifts him and thinks its her attempt in showing him that he doesn't have standards like hers. Rituparna's Sudipa tries to get her husbands attention by making compromises, by planning trips from her own pocket just so that the two can spend some quality time together, but doesn't understand that her attempts to draw him near are actually pushing him away as it hurts his self esteem.

Sudipa's last attempt to salvage their marriage goes in vain and the two separate.

The entire film is set on a train ride from Mumbai to Kolkata and is shown on the basis of a conversation between two women. The two women being Aparijita Adya and Rituparna Sengupta.

On the side we have a group of four musicians in the train to bring in a light note with their music, otherwise the movie would have been a tad bit too dour. We also have a newly married OTT couple, Biswanath Basu and Manali Dey, coming back from their honeymoon and an elderly couple, Soumitra Chatterjee and Sabitri Chatterjee, returning to Kolkata after a visit to their son's family.

 

The reason for showing the three married couples is to show the stark contrast between the various stages and types of marriage. The young couple returning from their honeymoon shows the enthusiasm, love and concern a couple share at the start, how they don't realise that marriage isn't always a smooth sail. The elderly couple shows how love and loyalty stands the test of time and stay together till the end. The two women show how mistakes can make a marriage go wrong and how they can be rectified given a second chance and a change of heart.

However a particular aspect was a botheration. Here they showed that a woman who is driven to make a successful career is the one who is refused to lead a smooth marital life, and the woman who forgets about herself and thinks that the sole reason behind her existence is to serve her husband and care for her child, comes out successful, makes no sense as such. What were they trying to say ? That a woman after marriage needs to let go of all her dreams, and just be a thing in her in-law's house to be pushed around ? A working woman wishes to have a husband and child as well. They are not devoid of feelings just because they earn money and wish to make a mark in her life. Whenever Sudipa told Molly that she has learnt a lot about life from her, learnt that compromises are required in a marriage, I couldn't help but feel a little agitated. Why does the compromise need to be forgetting who you are ? Why should the compromise be one sided ? Leaving the job isn't a compromise. Its a sacrifice. Learning to figure out some time for your loved around your hectic schedule is what is required.
This is the only complaint I have regarding this film. The message which came across is not appropriate.

The climax and the end is something that I shall not reveal. It is for you to find out by hitting the nearest theatres. All I can say is that it is a lovely portrayal of the past and present. The last scenes between Ujjan and Sudipa and the last line by Molly(Aparajita Adhya) to Sudipa will either leave you with a smile or with a tear in your eye.

The music of this movie is praiseworthy, especially the the songs Bhromor and Tumi jake bhalobasho. After you leave the theatres hunt these two on the net and play it on loop. For sure.
As for the acting Rituparna has showed a different dimension to her performance after a long time. Aparajita Adhay though natural and effortless mostly seemed a little loud at parts and Prasenjit has lived up to his name definitely.