Lost review: Yami Gautam works hard in service of Lost’s cause

mould: Yami Gautam, Pankaj Kapur, Rahul Khanna, Tushar Pandey, Piya Bajpai

Director: Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury

Rating: 2 stars (out of 5)

The film begins with the breaking news of a fatal bomb blast somewhere in Bengal’s Purulia district. that’s about the only bang LostDelivered, streaming on Zee5. For the rest of its run, the two-hour journalistic procedural is a bit of a whimper.

don’t say that lost, Directed by multiple National Award-winning director Anirudh Roy Chowdhury (Anuranan, Endless, Pink), the film is devoid of qualities. It does have moments that seem promising, but these are too sporadic to help kick the film into top gear.

The cast includes the formidable Pankaj Kapur. When he is on screen things bounce off with minimal visual effort. Also in the film are three stalwarts of Bengali cinema – Suman Mukhopadhyay, Arindam Sil and Kaushik Sen. Their combined effect has only a peripheral effect.

Lost Youth seems close at times to crafting a political statement of some import on alienation. Three young people – an investigative journalist, a street theater worker and a television news anchor – are at the center of the film. But all things considered, the film lacks the fire to go whole hog and call a spade a spade.

In pursuit of safe and delicious, Lost loses his way and falls far short of what he wants to be – a sharp and immediate enumeration of the obstacles that hinder the progress of a truth-seeker in a society that hates its marginalized And closes his eyes.

Lenses and lighting by cinematographer Avik Mukhopadhyay with his traditional skills, Lost Certainly not lacking in finesse, technical or directorial. Sadly, sparkle is not what the film needs as much as a hard, subversive heart. He should have been bursting with energy and spilling with anger. It does neither. There is only superficial shine left in the film.

Lost It irrevocably takes its toll on the timid, tentative politicians who habitually take the masses along, and on the rebels who stand firm on behalf of those dispossessed of power. The way it draws an analogy between the two poles clearly borders on the status quo.

A news portal journalist, played by Yami Gautam Dhar (she never looks or acts like someone who doesn’t shy away from getting her hands and feet dirty in pursuit of a story), sets out to find out the reasons behind the sudden events. Wanders hither and thither for the purpose of. The disappearance of a young Dalit theater worker (Tushar Pandey) performing on the streets of Kolkata. Neither its process nor the conclusions it reaches rise above the detached.

In a hurry to project the missing person as a Maoist, the police tries to cover up the matter. Munshi is sure that there is more to the politically sensitive case than the police are willing to believe. Suspicion points to the girlfriend of the missing (Pia Bajpai).

The journalist begins his own investigative campaign, aided and advised by his maternal grandfather, a retired professor who believes that any ideology that promotes violence is above reproach, and his supportive boss (Suman Mukhopadhyay).

The film fails to fully capitalize on the growing presence of Pankaj Kapur. Shyamal Sengupta’s screenplay doesn’t give her – or what she represents – enough of a coherent, consistent character or ideological arc through the means.

In one scene the plain-spoken professor insists that he sees value in staying away from politics. In another he simply and fearlessly stands up to a powerful politician when push comes to shove. Kapoor is confident in both positions but the film’s own hesitation is distracting.

Yami Gautam Dhar, to whom this film owes much, labors in the service of a lost cause. For one, the female lead barely manages to convey one’s anger and is threatened at every step.

Furthermore, the film does not delve into the depth of his desperation. The characters and performances lack the power needed to propel the film above the line and into the realm of relative clarity.

Sketchily painted figures and artificial twists are not, however, the film’s biggest shortcoming. It’s just too bad in terms of what it does with the topics it addresses. The missing boy, possibly facing discrimination because of his caste identity, employs his medium to articulate his people’s collective discontent with a model of development that puts the underprivileged and voiceless communities on a rough ride. Is.

Lost Also shows the gender dynamics affecting the life of the missing man’s married sister. Her husband gives her no quarter and expects her to do his bidding unquestioningly. Not only is she presented as the antithesis of the self-willed heroine, her brother too, is nothing like her no-nonsense husband.

The female protagonist lives and breathes the other end of the spectrum. He has built a life and career for himself without the support of his construction tycoon-father. In fact, he often quarrels with his father.

At first glance, the noises made by Lost seem to be completely in order in a broad sense. But lurking beneath the surface of the film is a devious attempt to paint the exploiter and the exploited, the criminal and the protester with the same brush.

Lost The divisions equally blame a cynical and corrupt politician (Rahul Khanna, in one of his rare film appearances, more suave than shy) who works the system for his own benefit and a rebel leader (Kaushik Sen ) that fights for an inclusive, just society where the land and civil rights of the poor are not trampled upon by the powerful and wealthy.

Lost Are we to believe that the youth of this country are just as likely to be manipulated by rebels as by those who have the entire system at their mercy. Furthermore, it cites statistics on the high number of people who go missing every day in this country and links this to the more specific issue of harassment of political activists. That’s a huge stretch.

Lost In a maze of conflicting signals, Lost is a conflicted shot at understanding the battle that rages between the necessary and the expedient in the land of many arcane cults.