Rain, rain, come again. Review on Raincoat

Raincoat moves at a snail’s pace. With rain in the background and conversation in the forefront it makes for a sumptuous soul fest.

He (Manoj) is from Bhagalpur and is unemployed and broke. He comes to Calcutta to raise money for an enterprise. One rainy afternoon he decides to meet her (Neeru). She is married to a successful MNC employee who is always away on business meetings. She is his bored housewife. Manoj fibs to her about being a successful owner of a television company. The rains continue unabated. She goes out to buy food for him from the restaurant. He gives her his raincoat. And then truth arrives in the form of the landlord. She returns. And their conversation continues. He goes home and discovers a letter in his raincoat.

The raincoat is the protagonist in Rituparno Ghosh’s eponymous film. It stands for the deception that we as individuals adopt in our everyday life. It is also a critique on the middle-class concept of job security.

What works in its favour are the performances of its lead players Ajay Devgan and Aishwarya Rai - a cameo by Annu Kapur takes the plot forward – the narrative, the dialogues, and the atmosphere. Rituparno Ghosh has created an intimate film where words, raindrops, emotions, poetry and music fill up the screen.