Chittagong

About the film

Chittagong is a 2012 Indian historical war drama film directed by Bedabrata Pain. It stars Manoj Bajpayee in the lead role and is based upon events of British India's Chittagong Uprising. The film features music by trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy and sound by Resul Pookutty. The world premier of film was on 10 April 2012. Chittagong released on 12 October 2012 and nett grossed Rs 3.1 million at the Indian box office. This movie won the 60th National Film Awards for the Best Debut Film of a Director.

Plot

The story is set against the backdrop of a little-known saga in 1930s British colonial India's East Bengal (now Bangladesh), where a group of schoolboys and young women, led by a schoolteacher, Masterda Surya Sen, dared to take on the Empire. Chittagong is the story of a diffident 14-year-old boy, Jhunku. Swept up into this seemingly impossible mission, the reluctant teenager battles with self-doubts to achieve an improbable triumph.

Jhunku, now a 23-year-old youth, is being chased by the Bengal police. He hides himself in a bunker with his childhood friend Aparna. While hiding, he begins to reflect on his past hopes and dreams. The story goes to a flashback to narrate the events that happened 10 years ago.

In 1930, Surya Sen and his followers are protesting the death of the revolutionary Jatin Das. Jhunku is not allowed to join them by his lawyer father, who wants him to study in England. Apart from fearing his father, Jhunku is also torn between his admiration and respect for the magistrate, Wilkinson, and his wife, who show great likings for him, and his fascination for the charismatic figure of Masterda, who is followed and revered by most of his friends. Jhunku, due to his faith in Wilkinson, who is personally against torturing revolutionaries, has great belief in British justice and believes that by getting an English education he might better equip himself to free his country. This causes arguments between him and his friends, especially Aparna. Wilkinson is opposed by the police inspector Major Johnson, who defies his orders and arrests the protesters and badly tortures Masterda.

Controversy

Anurag Kashyap posted a message on his Facebook account accusing Amitabh Bachchan of using his clout for delaying the release of Chittagong, as his son Abhishek Bachchan's upcoming film Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey was also based on the Chittagong uprising. Bedabrata Pain, though, said it was delayed due to the distributors suggesting to postpone it despite him preferring it to release before Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey. He also said that Abhishek and his mother Jaya Bhaduri had loved the script when he went to offer the role to Abhishek.

Soundtrack

The album was met with critical acclaim. Kartik of Milliblog praised the album, calling it a "classy opening to Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s 2012 account". DunkDaft quoted about the music as 'A sheer delightful soundtrack for the period film'.

Khalid Mohamed praised the score as "evocative", while Shabna Ansari of NDTV deemed it "soulful".

Promotion

Cinemax Versova held a special screening of Chittagong in Mumbai during 2012. Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Resul Pookutty and Anil Kapoor were there.

Critical reception

The film was released worldwide on 12 October 2012. It garnered mostly positive reviews from critics.

Srijna Mitra Das of Times of India gave it 3.5 stars. "Like a Chittagong orchid, the movie takes time to blossom – but when it does, it's beautiful. And pleases a certain master" said ToI. Rediff Movies called Chittagong honest and gave it 3 stars: "Chittagong is an important film despite its shortcomings," writes Raja Sen of Rediff. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave 3.5 stars. Aniruddha Guha of DNA gave it 3.5 stars. "Chittagong is the kind of film that will leave you with a heavy heart, and moved. Give it a shot." said DNA. MOZVO, social movie rating site, gave Chittagong 3.5 out of 5 making it a 'Recommended' movie. Shubra Gupta of the Indian Express gave 3.5 stars. Jim Luce of Huffington Post wrote "The film Chittagong is a brilliant, poignant action-drama, made more so by the fact that it is true."

Key details