Narrating a story about how girls get trapped, Blessy shows the different
sides of Kolkata mainly focusing on the dark side of the city in his new
movie 'Calcutta News'.
The movie begins with a TV channel reporter getting an award for his
documentary film which he had shot in his mobile camera. He with his
camera follows a girl and brings out the horrible truths that were unknown
to public.
Krishnapriya (Meera Jasmine) comes to Kolkata with her husband Hari
(Indrajith) on the same day they get married. Ajith Thomas (Dileep),
a 'Calcutta News' TV channel reporter meets the couple accidentally
at many places. One day Ajith comes to know that Hari is murdered and
he goes in search for the girl. Finally he finds her locked up in a
room. He feels pity for her when he understands that she is cheated
by her husband and tries to help her. And his inquisitiveness makes
him follow her and capture the bright and dark side of her life with
his mobile camera. He understands that a big sex mafia is after her
and tries to rescue her from them.
Unlike 'Kazhcha', 'Thanmatra' and 'Palunku', Blessy goes beyond the
walls of a nuclear family to a city, the 'city of joy' -Kolkata, in
his fourth film ‘Calcutta news’. The director with a unique
panache for making a strong impact portraying real life issues, this
time deals with the social menace of illegal trafficking of women. Kudoos
to him for choosing such a subject, but unlike his other films, he fails
to convey the main message in this movie, as the audience gets distracted
with other things such as black magic, ghost appearances, romance, Kerala
Samajam conflicts etc. While Blessy is known for portraying family life
well, he couldn’t make it in this movie. The family life of the
reporter, and the old memories and love of his mother towards her husband
offers nothing new and has been seen in many Malayalam movies before.
The narration of the first half of the movie flows smoothly but looses
continuity in between. The audience start to think about the importance
of many scenes that could be completely removed from the movie. Subtitles
for many dialogues in Bengali and Hindi are missing, which is difficult
for the Malayalee audience to decipher.
S Kumar's camera picturizes Kolkata city very well. The different shots
of the city are fabulous especially those of narrow walls that lead
to the slum where the sex workers live, literally carry the viewers
there.
Debojyoti Mishra, the former assistant of Salil Choudari succeeds in
churning out good songs. The music gels well with the lyrics of Vayalar
Sharat Chandra Varma.
Dileep, playing the role of a journalist looks very different in his
appearance with long straightened hair and thick glasses, does well
but fails to present Ajith in his full spirit. His dialogue delivery
falters in many scenes. He could have done much better with the character.
Meera Jasmine as usual is natural in her role but reminds one of her
other very similar characters. The character of Krishna Priya, an innocent
orphan girl who is trapped by a man who marries her to sell her off
to others, is safe in her hands.
Innocent as the Kairali Samajam President is in his usual style. Vimala
Raman as Ajith's co- worker Smitha, Thampy Antony as a Psychiatrist
are apt in their roles. The others in the cast include Unni Sivapal,
Manasa, Bindu Panikar etc.
‘Calcutta News’ had a very good message to communicate
with the audience, but has not fully succeeded in its mission.
