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Film: Hitlist Director: Sandip Ray Cast: Dhritiman Chatterjee, Tota Roy Choudhury, Sudipta Chakraborty, Saheb Chatterjee, Saswata Chatterjee, Subhrajit Dutta, Siddhartha Chatterjee, Tinnu Anand, Babul Supriyo, Deepankar De and Mithu Chakraborty
The big bad world of crime isn’t new to director Sandip Ray. Its cinematic revelations have been many. And this time around the focus lithely shifts to the corporate world. But confusing Hitlist with film noir will be a mistake too early in the day.
As the name suggests, the film gives one a fair idea of what to expect. But there’s no attempt to break away from the ‘expected’ and the audience only ends up falling prey to its mesh of expectations. So, the conference room of an ad agency gets transformed into a web of deceit, with Sanjoy (Babul), Subhodeep (Saheb), Deep (Tota) and Kamolika (Sudipta) trying to convince colleague Ranojoy (Subhrajit) to join hands in selling off a concept. But an upright Ranojoy turns down the offer and goes home with a heavy heart to his newly-wed wife, Anindita (Koel). A hurried evening meeting is called at Deep’s place, where an argument ensues after knocking back a few pegs and Subhodeep kills Ranojoy in the heat of the moment, giving scope to the gang to drive his lifeless body to Rajarhat and make it seem like an accident. Period. The case is closed, one is told. Next Anindita joins the ad agency, gets along with the gang like a house on fire and becomes a part of it. And next you know that two colleagues are bumped off in three days. Two more to go as far as the killer’s hitlist goes. Enter ex-homicide detective Prabhat Ranjan Bannerjee (Dhritiman) at this juncture to investigate the case along side cop Someswar Bhowmick (Saswata). Ranojoy’s case is opened again. Two murders in three days isn’t a joke, after all. And as it becomes amply clear who the murderer is (there never was any doubt), the wrongdoers, still alive, start living in fear. Plots are hatched and survival of the fittest becomes the mantra. But as you expect more shock, thrill and surprise, the sinners meet a fatal end. As good triumphs over evil, investigations are put on hold and Prabhat Ranjan Bannerjee comes across as one with a heart of gold. A filmi style happy ending, here. There are quite a few loose ends: Why was Ranojoy’s case closed in the first place, when the autopsy report would have revealed what was the cause of his death? Didn’t killing two in three days make the case far too obvious? Was it Ranojoy’s ghost that appeared in Deep and Kamalika’s car on that fateful night or was it their mind playing tricks? Though the plot was simple, the film smartly moved back and forth in time.
Hitlist’s pluses are its actors. With an enviable lineup of Tota, Saheb, Sudipta, Saswata and Subhrajit vying for attention, it’s certainly a treat for the cineastes. Babul too is convincing as a conniving adman. Dhritiman does justice to his sleuth act. It’s great to see him in action. Koel not only looks like a million bucks, but also burns up the screen with her restrained performance. Way to go gal, even if Hitlist misses the target!
The big bad world of crime isn’t new to director Sandip Ray. Its cinematic revelations have been many. And this time around the focus lithely shifts to the corporate world. But confusing Hitlist with film noir will be a mistake too early in the day.
As the name suggests, the film gives one a fair idea of what to expect. But there’s no attempt to break away from the ‘expected’ and the audience only ends up falling prey to its mesh of expectations. So, the conference room of an ad agency gets transformed into a web of deceit, with Sanjoy (Babul), Subhodeep (Saheb), Deep (Tota) and Kamolika (Sudipta) trying to convince colleague Ranojoy (Subhrajit) to join hands in selling off a concept. But an upright Ranojoy turns down the offer and goes home with a heavy heart to his newly-wed wife, Anindita (Koel). A hurried evening meeting is called at Deep’s place, where an argument ensues after knocking back a few pegs and Subhodeep kills Ranojoy in the heat of the moment, giving scope to the gang to drive his lifeless body to Rajarhat and make it seem like an accident. Period. The case is closed, one is told. Next Anindita joins the ad agency, gets along with the gang like a house on fire and becomes a part of it. And next you know that two colleagues are bumped off in three days. Two more to go as far as the killer’s hitlist goes. Enter ex-homicide detective Prabhat Ranjan Bannerjee (Dhritiman) at this juncture to investigate the case along side cop Someswar Bhowmick (Saswata). Ranojoy’s case is opened again. Two murders in three days isn’t a joke, after all. And as it becomes amply clear who the murderer is (there never was any doubt), the wrongdoers, still alive, start living in fear. Plots are hatched and survival of the fittest becomes the mantra. But as you expect more shock, thrill and surprise, the sinners meet a fatal end. As good triumphs over evil, investigations are put on hold and Prabhat Ranjan Bannerjee comes across as one with a heart of gold. A filmi style happy ending, here. There are quite a few loose ends: Why was Ranojoy’s case closed in the first place, when the autopsy report would have revealed what was the cause of his death? Didn’t killing two in three days make the case far too obvious? Was it Ranojoy’s ghost that appeared in Deep and Kamalika’s car on that fateful night or was it their mind playing tricks? Though the plot was simple, the film smartly moved back and forth in time.
Hitlist’s pluses are its actors. With an enviable lineup of Tota, Saheb, Sudipta, Saswata and Subhrajit vying for attention, it’s certainly a treat for the cineastes. Babul too is convincing as a conniving adman. Dhritiman does justice to his sleuth act. It’s great to see him in action. Koel not only looks like a million bucks, but also burns up the screen with her restrained performance. Way to go gal, even if Hitlist misses the target!
