The Storyteller Movie Review: An Exceptionally Performed, Poetic and Respectful Tribute To The Master

The Storyteller Review

“Good artists copy, great artists steal” never imagined Pablo Picasso’s interesting and humorous lines on ‘copy’ and ‘inspiration’ will get such a metaphoric treatment in this retelling of Satyajit Ray’s short ‘Golpo Boliye Tarini Khuro’ by director Ananth Narayan Mahadevan.

One sells cotton and the other spills yarns, the world of Ray’s ‘The Storteller’ expanded into a feature film by screenwriter Kireet Khurana and narrated by director Ananth Narayan Mahadevan has simplicity, wit, nostalgia, ease, character study and more.

The prime characters – Goradia and Tarini go through illusions, delusions, faith, fate, love and betrayal in this smoothly narrated cinema.

Some changes are done to suit the feature film version like the peep into the eating habits of Gujarati’s and Bengali’s is done deliberately to show the difference between the culture, the original short showed the difference between the two men by exploring their believes, principles, ideologies etc.

The typecasting by showing ‘dhokla, ‘thepla’ in the plate for Guajarati and showing the relish for fish for a Bengali repeatedly may work for the general audience but connoisseurs may find it manipulative and typical.

However, the settings (the era of dial phones and ambassador cars), the atmosphere, the art work, the background score are able to give it a classic feel.

The rapport between Garodia and Tarini in spite of differences and those stories – the one-hundred-year-old Aravalli forests told through animation, the spy pigeon from the Second World War era, the unvanquished princess, told by Tarini to Goradia are one of the best moments.

Interestingly the casting also adds a layer. A Guajarati – Paresh Rawal is casted a Tagore loving Bengali and an Assamese Adil Hussain is casted as a very successful Gujarati businessman. Both say a few words in Bangla and Gujarati as well.

Apart from the quirky mentions of Gorky, Tolstoy and Picasso, ‘The Storyteller’ also has three ladies doing some talking. librarian Suzie (Tannishtha Chatterjee) arrives and brings a twist to the narrative. Saraswati (Revathy), Garodia's ex also adds to the complexities surrounding the air. Also, there is Anindita Bose playing Tarini’s late wife who has gifted Tarini a pen on his birthday (in a flashback) as a motivation to pen his original stories and no just narrating it. Tarini is reluctant to put pen his own vision/stories into paper. He is happy narrating them in his style.

The sly comment on capitalism on time to time also elevates this film.

Performance

Paresh Rawal is exceptional as Tarini Bandopadhyay the Calcutta based Bengali storyteller. The actor portrays dry the wry humour effortlessly.

Adil Hussain as Garodia is excellent, his body language, poise, vulnerability and occasional humour comes out brilliantly giving perfect justice to his character.

Tannishtha Chatterjee as Suzie brings warmth and has a unique sense of humour in her comments on writers. Revathy as Saraswati brings the elegance and she does her part with solid convicting.

Anindita Bose is very good. Jayesh More as Manikchand the house help at Goardia’s mention has his moments.

The Storyteller review – final words

The retelling of Satyajit Ray’s short ‘Golpo Boliye Tarini Khuro’ by award winning filmmaker Ananth Narayan Mahadevan not only brings Bengal, Gujarat at one common point, but also coins Gorky, Tolstoy, Picasso, capitalism, illusion, delusion, truth, lies, faith and fate in a poetic, respectable tribute to the master storyteller – Satyajit Ray.

Going with four stars

Produced by Jio Studios, Purpose Entertainment and Quest Films, ‘The Storyteller’ is streaming on Disney+Hotstar from January 28, 2025.