| Fighter (2011) Bengali Film Review-Jeet The Action Hero |
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In his second coming, Jeet decided to switch completely with a makeover from pure romance to pure action. It worked like a bomb but Jeet did not wish to take a second chance to near oblivion. He consolidated his position after the tremendous success of Wanted and Dui Prithibi by working on his body almost 24/7 to become the first ever male star in Bengali cinema to have a wonderful, rippling-muscled, sexy, eight-abs body girls will swoon over and boys will either love to Xerox or envy. The way the young men in the audience broke into an impromptu dance or threw fists into the air, showered glitter in the theatre and blew whistles whenever Jeet appears on the scene must be seen to be believed. Thankfully however, Jeet is not ‘all body’ in Fighter, directed by Ravi Kinagi based on his own story. The story begins with the pretty Srabonti driving off in a scooty a few minutes before her forced wedding to a nut case. She cheerfully negotiates her way to reach her lover boy Surya (Jeet) who piggy backs on her scooty sitting back-to-back for some flashing style, gets off mid-way, shoots the DGP and piggy backs this time, behind the pretty girlfriend. The story flashes back some months before and the ‘real’ story of Surya’s ‘transformation’ begins. Though Fighter is a merging of family melodrama, some naughty romance between the two well-matched boy and girl and a few comic twists that are more ham than fun, it is action all the way consolidating Jeet’s new status as the numero uno action hero of Bengali cinema. The family melodrama is a bit overdone no thanks to the pre-adolescent little girl and her mother (Locket Chatterjee). Kinagi strikes another original note by giving Firdous a completely new image as Bose, Surya’s elder brother, the honest police officer who leaves no stone unturned to bring down the mafia Raj in Binpur by Section Shankar. He does more than justice to the character. Bharat Kaul as Shankar also gets a fresh lease in Bengali cinema with a role that is generous in footage though not very generous in characterization. The ‘section’ before his name appears like an ‘inspiration’ from real-life villain Auto Shankar from the south but it jells well. The look the director has given him takes time for us to recognise who the actor is. Srabonti is a natural performer as much as the most beautiful girl who drives her scooty gracefully down the roads of Binpur as she is naughty in the romantic scenes and bold in the opening and closing scenes with her father. But she needs a more flesh-and-blood role to tap her potential in histrionics.
The twist in the tale where Surya cremates his brother without informing the family about his death appears absurd but gets in sync as the story moves on, leading to a dramatic climax with Ashish Vidyarthy stepping in as the new police officer in a brief cameo. His Bengali lines have been rightly dubbed. He gives a controlled performance without raving and raging like he usually does. Biplab is good in a meaty role as the corrupt police officer shot dead in the opening scenes. Very good actors like Joy Badlani, Biswajit Chakraborty, Biswanath Ghose, etc. have been wasted in inane roles and this is one sad thing about this film. Judo Ramu’s fight scenes are much better than one gets to see in most films. Indradeep Dasgupta’s musical score strikes an original note with the Mon Banjara number but is predictable in the other songs including the too loud title track. Rabi Ranjan Mitra’s editing is uneven, smooth at places and jerky at other times. The cinematography is very good in the action scenes while the others are simply dal-chawal stuff. The film is generously sprinkled with blood, gore and violence but it does not hurt as it blends into the story. Romance expressed only through monotonous song-and-dance numbers shot on location is getting a bit boring and dull. Jeet’s maiden production will keep the box office tiller ringing, make no mistake. Fighter is Jeet’s film all the way. But he must share the credit for the film’s commercial success with the man who put everything together – Ravi Kinagi. Fighter will never win an Oscar or a National Award. But who told you Jeet wanted it to win awards, tell me? |
