Cast: Dileep, Meera Jasmine, Indrajit, Vimala Raman, Innocent, Bindu Panikkar
Direction: Blessy
Production: Thampy Antony
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Calcutta News, filmmaker Blessy’s fourth directional venture, is entirely different from his previous family-oriented films, Kazhcha, Thanmathra and Palunku. The movie, based on a different love story, showcases how an innocent girl gets trapped in a sex racket in Kolkata, also dealing with several other issues like human trafficking.
Ajith Thomas,e son of a former footballer, is an investigative reporter and producer, who works for a local TV channel, Calcutta News. Though his parents hail from Kerala, he was born and brought up in the City of Joy, and is well versed with Bengali culture. He stays in the city with his mother and two sisters in an apartment.
While covering a durga pooja procession in the lively streets of Kolkata, he happens to meet a Keralite couple, Harikumar (Indrajith) and Krishnapriya (Meera Jasmine). While Krishnapriya is happy meeting Ajith who hails from her home-state, Hari seems to be uncomfortable, acts rude, and tries to break the contact and leave the place.
A few days later, while editing a news item, Ajith happens to see a photo of an unidentified body lying at a marshland. He is shocked to see that it resembles Hari and woders what happened to Krishnapriya. Along with his team, he finds that Krishnapriya has been locked in a grimy room in a seedy lodge. Krishnapriya is unaware of her husband’s death and has no clue about the nature of his job. She was an innocent orphan living in Kerala, whom Hari had married and brought to Kolkata. Taking pity on Krishnapriya’s condition and ignorance, Ajith takes her with him.
After their massive search, Hari and his team discover that Hari was involved in the city’s sex racket, bringing innocent girls from other parts of the country and selling them to the Sonagachi sex mafia group of Kolkata. He had married Krishnapriya with the intention of selling her to a man with whom he had already finalized a deal. Meanwhile, he had also taken money from another man to sell her, but was brutally killed by him.
Ajith falls for Krishnapriya due to her love for music and singing. But she gets kidnapped by the Sonagachi mafia group. Will Ajith be able to save her life and win over her love?
The theme and the locations chosen by Blessy are wonderful. Though well-intentioned, with a bold theme and excellent display of human emotions, the movie could have been more interesting had Blessy concentrated more on its content, making it more exciting and less predictable. Technically, the film is superb, with excellent work done by cinematographer S. Kumar, who showcases some beautiful locales of the City of Joy.
Dileep, with his straightened hair and glasses, looks cool. He gives a stunning performance as a reporter. Meera Jasmine excels as an innocent girl from Kerala and brilliantly shows her love for music. Vimala Raman has done her role with perfection. Indrajith does a good job in a negative role. Krishnamoorthy is excellent. Supporting actors Innocent, Bindu Panicker and Thampy Antony have done justice to their roles.
The major highlight of the film is its melodious songs penned by Vyalar Sarathchandra Varma and set to tune by Debojyoti Mishra. The songs ‘Kannadi Koottile’ and ‘Engu Nino Vanna’ rendered by Chitra are the best tracks.