Khakee the Bengal Chapter review: A History of Violence!

Khakee the Bengal Chapter review: A History of Violence!

What: ‘Khakee the Bengal Chapter’ - much like its spiritual predecessor, ‘Khakee the Bengal Chapter’ is an intoxicatingly wild thriller that deep dives into the interplay of cops, gangsters and politicians who infested the city of joy in a bygone era.

Khakee the Bengal Chapter review

Neeraj Pandey is back! After a dud like ‘Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha’ and a middling heist drama ‘Sikander ka Muqaddar’, he is back to his territory – elevating the tension with high-stakes drama, long single shots with the cameras capturing into the chases while swooping into the slim and snarly lanes and alternating between timelines in his narrative.

‘Khakee the Bengal Chapter’, which proclaims him as the creator and directed by Debatma Mandal and DoP-turned-director Tushar Kanti Ray finds Jeet Madnani as the prudent and shrewd cop Arjun Maitra in a daring conquest of power and control in the chaotic city of Kolkata infested with crime and gangsters, as he takes on a feared don, Shankar Baruah aka Bagha (Saswata Chatterjee) and his apprentices – Sagor and Ronjit (played by Ritwick Bhowmick and Aadil Khan respectively).

Maitra steps into the shoes of a martyred cop, Saptarshi Sinha (Parambrata Chatterjee) in the unfulfilled mission to restore peace in the city that’s gripped under the fear of the notorious gangsters, gunshots and grenades and in the process, he not only needs to not only clean up the entire criminal system but also nab the mole in their team.

 In the process, he must navigate a broken system paralyzed by the deadly nexus of politicians comprising Barun Ray (Prosenjit Chatterjee) who maneuvers CM Shirshendu to his benefits. Maitra must cleverly incite gang wars to his own advantage.

This immediately reminded me of the YRF films ‘Gunday’ under the aegis of Ali Abbas Zafar where the cop played by Irrfan Khan engineers a breakup in the bromance between Bikram and Bala played by Ranvir Singh and Arjun Kapoor respectively.While the duo reconciles towards the climax in the latter, it gets rather more severe and intense in Pandey’s rendition of the evocative chapters, juxtaposed with a dark political backdrop (involving Nibedita Basak, BDF Party played by Chitrangada Singh).

Pandey assembles a brilliant Bong-ensemble and soaks Khakee with a quintessential Bong-ness accompanied by striking and incessant visuals of Howrah Bridge, Lal Bazaar and Victoria Memorial. The chases are impeccably staged in the busy and bustling bazaars and bastis, reminding us of the Kolkata of early 80s and 90s.

Quite often, he retorts to extreme gore and sexual violence – slitting and slashing add on the graphic and disturbing imagery that ‘Khakee’ nurtures during its seven-episode narrative. Which I feel is somewhere justified (rated as U/A 16+) in the simmering vengeance that unleashes from the volatile boys, Sagor and Ronjit, brilliantly played by Ritwik and Aadil. While Ronjit is hot -headed and temperamental, Ritwik adorns Sagor with a self-sorted ness and balance, only to emerge as an untamed beast later.

Coming under the same frame for the first time, Prosenjit and Jeet are compelling in their respective parts. As Arjun Maitra, Jeet’s expressions are limited. He’s a cop whose stoic and inert demeanour deceives you for his cunningness. Each character has a unique arc that evolves in the treacherous landscape of political machinations and gang warfare. In their short screen-life-span, Saswata and Parambrata impress but Mimoh (Mahakshay Chakravorty) looks flabby with flaccid expressions.

Pandey’s female brigade has little to do in this quest of power and brawny machismo, but Akanksha Singh as SI Aritrika and Shruti Das do register an impact with their vivid performances. Pooja Chopra and Shradhha Das and serve token presences.

 

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