I did see quite a few rather good films this year, yet post-pandemic, this year was crucial for the theatres. So, as an old-fashioned cinema lover, my list of enjoyable films in 2022 will only be those I saw in the theatres.

Let’s start with the newcomer who won the hearts and stormed the theatres in Bengal. I caught up with Prasun Chatterjee’s Dostojee in its third week in a packed South City INOX on a weekday. Some people who matter to me have expressed their skepticism about it being too simplistic. My take is that much of Indian cinema has been losing out in its simplicity by attempting to be complex. That Prasun falls back on the classical neo realism and stubbornly refuses to build drama, the layered complexity of the content emerges. You are left feeling numbed and sad about the politics of hate. In the very second scene at the village tea stall the radio reports about the collapse of Babri Masjid and ensuing riots.

The time period is set. The story of friendship between two eight-year-old boys from two different religious communities gains poignance without any political comment whatsoever. The languid pace ably supported by Tuhin Biswas’s minimalist photography heightens the story of male bonding. The passion and pain become poetic, even spiritual.

The two young actors from Murshidabad village, Asik and Arif Shaikh, are an absolute treat to watch. Almost all actors are fresh and deliver with such ease that the entire hall is swept away with the power of realism. I have to mention Anujoy Chatterjee as the private tutor and Jayati Chakraborty as the mother.

(L-R) See How They Run; Dostojee

Here is a film which once again proves that there is enough space in Bengali cinema and its audience to make films run despite casting known faces or twisted plots. I am certain Prasun and his partners had to undergo the battle of distribution but that he did deserves a salute.

In between my concerts in London, I had to catch up with the spoof of Agatha Christie’s Mousetrap, See How They Run. A 70-seater hall in Leicester Square Cinemax with 40-odd people. It was sheer joy to see the witty parody of crime noir back on the screen.

A brutal murder is committed backstage in West End theatre in 1953 when the production of Mousetrap was a mere

100-performance old. A brash American film-maker played more brashly by Adrian Brody, who is planning to make a film version of the theatre, is found brutally killed in the costume department. Sam Rockwell is the investigating officer Stoppard (a nod to Tom Stoppard’s own spoof meta mystery The Real Inspector Hound) and his overeager assistant Constable Stalker (probably a nod at Tarkovsky ) played pat on by Saoirse Ronan. What follows is a witty chamber thriller where all the cast and crew of the Mousetrap are suspect.

There is a certain daftness to the humour which is rather attractive in See How They Run (again a pun on Three Blind Mice). Director Tom George chooses to have fun with the characters almost refusing to get entangled in the plot and the film becomes highly engaging. Lavishly shot by Jamie D Ramsay, it is one of those wacky detective thrillers with no pretensions to be a classic, completely disregarding the deadly seriousness the detective genre usually gets trapped in nowadays.

Sam Rockwell effortlessly slips into the alcoholic, jaded, weary detective that outdoes his ruthless cop in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The film constantly winks at the audience. Those of you not well-versed in Christie or the British kitchen humour may miss the point. I, for one, felt this heavily inspired by Wes Anderson mysteries, can grow into a terrific franchise with Rockwell and Ronan solving cases ripped off from various British thrillers.

I felt comforted by the guffaw in the hall that perhaps my upcoming franchise Danny Detective INC may find the Bengali audience smirking if not rolling in laughter.

It was an evening show in a packed Prachi cinema on a weekday. My wife Chanda and I made it in its third week. I was supposed to act in it as the devilishly funny Chowdhury but could not because of my own film. By the time the first two scenes were through I, along with the entire audience, was swept away by the infectious wit of playwright Badal Sircar. Ballabhpurer Roopkotha was like a breath of fresh air in today’s Bangla cinema.

Anirban Bhattacharya’s directorial debut in feature deserves a standing ovation for the sheer fact that he has pulled off an extremely difficult comedy of errors with a bunch of unfamiliar theatre actors. What could have easily slipped into buffoonery and unintelligent lampooning became clever, sharp and hilarious.

That Anirban stubbornly sticks to the theatre text and refuses any interpretation whatsoever, makes Ballabhpurer... an absolutely delicious community viewing.

Cinematographer Soumik Haldar’s colours and moodily lit interiors make the experience even more haunting. Despite indulging in theatrical choreography, Anirban’s control over the medium is clearly evident in the snappy edit of every dialogue scene. The highly popular theatre is turned into a chamber farce. The introduction of Chowdhury without revealing his face with the sudden saxophone on the soundtrack clearly confirms Anirban’s command over the craft. Absolutely flawless casting indulges us to enjoy the endearing characters more than the actors. Yet, Shyamal Chakraborty’s Manohar and Jhulan Bhattacharya’s Swapna steal the show. Satyam Bhattacharya manages to survive the crazy rigmarole.

In the era where everyone is trying to tell you a dark or serious narrative, Anirban’s unabashedly hilarious endeavour is more than welcome in the theatres.