Jonaki is one of those films which people will either love or hate. Jonaki is a film which perfectly defines groundbreaking visuals and a style of cinematography which is not only unique but one which hasn’t been probably executed in Indian Cinema.
Directed by Aditya Vikram Sengupta, Jonaki is his second feature-length film in Bengali after Asha Jaoar Majhe (Labour of Love).
Jonaki plays out in a non-linear fashion with shots which are hair-raising. Sengupta has stated that the film is meant to show the life of his grandmother, especially the aspect that she and his grandfather had a very cold relationship.
The film has a sort of grand macabre beauty. One can understand this by the fact the Sengupta crafted the visuals after the nightmares he received when his grandmother passed away. One cannot achieve such a vision on screen without the perfect mix of set design and cinematography. This is where Jonaki Bhattacharya, the production designer and the cinematographer, Sengupta, himself hit it way out of the ballpark.
The storyline is non-linear and the fact that the interpretation of the film is entirely up to the viewer is something which really appealed to me. The late Lolita Chatterjee who plays Jonaki embodies her tragic nature perfectly. Other cast members like Jim Sarbh, Ratnabali Bhattacharjee and Sumanto Bhattacharya are fantastic in their roles as well.
In conclusion, I’d like to say Jonaki is a film, to which a review honestly doesn’t do much justice. Jonaki is a very unique watch and definitely one of the best films at MAMI 2018, if not the best.
Credits:
Rohitendra Chatterjee
Student – BBA (Media & Communication)