"In love, everyone deserves a second chance." This is the bottom line of Riingo's Jodi Ekdin. Riingo has written the story and the script, edited and cinematographed the film capping it with direction. Neil Basu (Indraneil Sengupta) and Nikita Choudhury (Priyanka) live together in Kolkata. Neil is a high-powered executive in an advertising agency. Nikita, a gifted singer, has given up a promising career in Mumbai to move in with the man she loves. But the ambitious Neil gets more involved in his dream presentation that will make him the VP than in his partner’s first audition. The very much in love Nikita takes it all in with a smile, but for how long?
Magic makes life, and love, chances that one ought not to miss. This magic invests the film with the element of a thriller in the second half. Surrealistic elements are generously drawn upon from the fantasy character (Saheb Chatterjee) who springs from nowhere to point out to Neil that he must make the best of the three rules of magic before time runs out. What time? Whose time? Why time? The screenplay drags in the opening scenes with a jarringly loud song sequence (Flashback? Dream scene?). But it picks up momentum after the interval with the chemistry between and among Neil, the magician, who also steps in as a stammering young man on a motor cycle and Nikita.
Riingo draws a 'Paharpur' landscape using his camera like a painter's brush, splashing and blurring the colours like a water-colour painting. The human scarecrow turning around to wink at the audience is a wonderful touch. The indoor sequences, especially of the apartment Neil and Nikita live in, their lifestyle and dress habits are too brazenly Western and somewhat alienating for the Bengali audience. The sound design of the film has been orchestrated with care – the screeching of brakes, the sound of a rushing ambulance with car headlights speeding away in the night, the motorcycle speeding by, and the rest.
Joy Sarkar’s debut as music composer is good except in the first song. Anindyo and Chandril’s lyrics of the last song – khola chithi, and the one on the soundtrack are moving. The scene that leads to Nikita's maiden stage performance towards the climax is exaggerated and melodramatic. Why Rabi Ranjan Mitra as the conductor has been given a caricaturist touch is a mystery. The twist in the tale comes as a real surprise.
Shaheb as the magician shines in a mind-blowing cameo, full of fun, satire, intrigue and amusement. Indraneil as Neil tries to give of his best in an unusual role. Priyanka’s spontaneous performance is at times marred by a touch of self-consciousness. The film is Riingo's career-best till date. Though the mystery is lifted in the end, you never stop wondering about which part was a dream and which, the reality?
By Shoma A Chatterji
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