Some wars never end

 

 

After establishing the Bong Connection, Anjan Dutt brings to us Kolkata in another light. If the Bong Connection was about the urbane and globalising Kolkata, Bow Barracks is about that the Kolkata that’s caught in a time warp – 140 Anglo Indian families hanging on to their abode in a century old building that used to be a garrison for the American army during the World War. The film traces the fortunes of five such families as they battle their own problems (extra marital affairs, domestic violence, the traumas of bringing up a teenaged daughter) while trying to hold their ground at the building. The film with its realistic depiction of characters stands out thanks to the performances of the venerated trio of Lilette Dubey (as the mother who longs to get to England to live with her elder son who doesn’t seem to care to even return her calls), Victor Banerjee (as the delightfully deceitful antique dealer ‘Peter the Cheater’) and Sabyasachi Mukherejee (as the rather violent and malevolent husband of Neha Dubey). The scene between Emily (Lilette Dubey) and Peter (Victor Banerjee) at Park Street is quite a sublime moment. Although the script seems to jar at times with too many shots intertwined together and a couple of the performances are not exactly 100% (Arindam Sil’s as Bradley for instance), but with a neat background score and a decent set of performances with a rather unusual backdrop, Bow Barracks Forever is worth a watch.