Viva Rahul Bose!!!. Review on English August

“Hinglish” films have become quite a rage today and are being screened at many multiplexes around the city. A unique feature of this genre of cinema is the freshness of the script, unconventional treatment of screenplay, natural dialogue delivery and absence of larger-than-life characters. With the growing popularity of such cinema, many mainstream producers are showing interest in making these types of products since they involve much lower budget and allow for more creativity and maneuverability.

But the mother of all such films was the one which pioneered this trend in India and till date, remains one of the best.

=======================================================

ENGLISH, AUGUST (1995)

Direction:

Dev Benegal

Cast:

Rahul Bose as Agatsya Sen a.k.a. August

No other known faces except cameo performances by Tanvi Azmi, Shivaji Satam

=======================================================

The story:

Based on the book by Upamanyu Chatterjee, this film depicts the experiences of Agatsya Sen, an urban bred young man who has recently become an IAS officer. On his first assignment, he is posted to a rural area in a small desolate town in Southern India (I think it is in Andhra) called Madna. After he reaches there, he realizes that he is totally unable to relate to anything here. Everything like his immediate superior, his public meetings, the officials, the hangers-on, the suffocating red-tape, the files, etc. are straight out any government office!

Caught between two worlds, he thinks of his friends – many of whom have gone in for more glamorous careers in urban centres as well as abroad. He also keeps recollecting the words of his father and grandmother, etc. at various occasions. He is surrounded by many people, but at the same time, very lonely. His sexual escapades with himself, his dirty thoughts about women, especially his boss’ wife, and his brief encounter with the neighbourhood singer bring out his frustrations very well.

When he does meet an old friend who is also an IAS officer posted in another district, he is overjoyed. His jogging trysts with this friend are his only times of relief. However, he is shaken when this friend is killed by Naxalites – the only dark moment in the film.

His only source of respite from the rigmarole are the engaging discussions he has with the local journalist, played by Shivaji Satam, with whom he has long parleys on a variety of topics.

Although there is not much of a plot, the deft humor and satire effectively conveys the dilemma and contradictions faced by the protagonist.

Some of the satirical and comedy scenes:

1) Agatsya goes looking for a person. When he reaches the address, he sees a man standing on the side of the road and pissing. Agatsya waits for him until he finishes. When he turns around, he asks for the person. The man introduces himself as that person and puts his hand forward for a handshake. Agatsya, remembering what the guy was just upto, quickly does a namaste.

2) The collector wants Agatsya to undergo a crash course in the local language so that he can communicate better with the locals. The teacher who comes to his house teaches him some standard bureaucratic lines such as “the file is pending”, etc. The sequence is really hilarious. Agatsya’s bored expression as he mechanically parrots the lines after the teacher is a delight to watch.

3) Agatsya’s midnight encounter with a frog in his toilet is hilarious. He asks his servant Vasant to get rid of it. After a few attempts, the servant gives up saying that the frog brings good luck anyways.

4) On their daily jogging path, Agatsya and friend find somebody’s crap at the same spot everyday. Disgusted, Agatsya’s friend says that he is planning to take a photograph of this and send it as a card to someone with the words – “Greetings from Madna”.

=======================================================

Direction and Performances :

This film won many awards and is supposedly an excellent translation from a novel to celluloid. The humour is well woven into the screenplay without being slapstick. The natural tone of delivering dialogues is unique and makes one feel as though one is watching a real life documentary. The camera movements and angles also contribute towards giving a believable feeling to the proceedings.

Rahul Bose virtually breathes life into the character of Agatsya Sen and gives a brilliant, understated performance. Wish we could see him more often on screen.

The other cast, especially Shivaji Satam, also provide excellent support.

And most importantly, the town of Madna comes to life as a character in itself!!!