Chittagong (2012)

Quite possibly one of the greatest casting coups in Hindi cinema- Manoj Bajpayee, Rajkummar Rao, Vijay Verma, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Jaideep Ahlawat and Barry John in the same movie?! One would not be amiss in expecting a LOT out of this movie, especially since it's a retelling of one of the most dramatic and awe-inspiring incidents from Indian history. 

On paper, this should have been a movie I loved and fell in love with- it has two of my favourite actors working in Hindi cinema currently (Manoj Bajpayee and Rajkummar Rao), and the events that transpire in the movie are dearly close to my heart. Every time I have had to study the Indian Independence Movement in my 24 years of life, the portion I looked most forward to was about the revolutionaries. And don't get me wrong- I tried hard, really hard, to appreciate this movie. But for some reason, it just didn't work for me. Everything felt flat and dull, including the actors. It's like their talents cancelled each other out. The pacing of the movie was also an issue for me- although it was just 1 hour and 40-something minutes long, it felt significantly longer. I must admit- I also dozed off somewhere in the middle of the movie, because I found it that drab and uninteresting. 

However, credits where they are due- the fact that this movie talks about one of the most amazing yet neglected episodes of our history should be a cause for celebration in itself. It should also ideally have inspired more filmmakers to talk about other such events, including this one obviously. Also, the actresses (mostly unknown to me) made up for the disappointment given my the men. Kind of. Another good reminder to just never trust men in any capacity. The part in the end with the actual Subodh Roy made me cry a little, because it drove home the point that the people in this movie were real, and how forgetting them and their contributions is an injustice. 

In conclusion, Chittagong has definitely inspired me to read up more on this and other semi-forgotten chunks of our Independence movement. And also to go to Chittagong one day. 

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