Niharika review: Indrasis Acharya pens a melancholy ode to our solitude

4/5

Story: The film captures Deepa’s (Anuradha Mukherjee) journey from her coming of age to adulthood. She rubs shoulders with abuse, lust, dependence, love, and losses, and then chooses to age with her melancholic loneliness. 

Review: Niharika flows like a river of sadness. The director chooses a path of restrained emotion and visual extravaganza without going overboard. The best feature of the film is perhaps, Indrasis’ ability to leave many emotions unspoken. As the film ends, one ponders upon their losses and recluses through the gaze of a young woman.

Niharika is shot and edited lavishly. It doesn’t show any rush to throw event after event to the audience. It bears no pressure to tell a story (which it does in its sweet time. Also, it is based on veteran author Sanjib Chattopadhyay’s Bhoy) either. Instead, it walks through the rough terrain of the belly of India. The rustic landscape, the unbearable lightness of miles of empty lands, and fewer human beings cast a spell on the viewers. Santanu Dey captures Bihar and Jharkhand delightfully and Lubdhak Chatterjee carefully arranges the wide shots of cars taking their time to drive away from the vicinity of the lensman. Throughout the film, one can feel the nip in the air during the winter on the screen and enjoy the lush monsoon, even as a viewer. All this together makes the film a visual delight. Niharika could sustain sans music. However, Joy Sarkar knows how to garnish a film as this with a light seasoning of melody. 

Meanwhile, Indrasis has his style of storytelling. He knows where to stop and when to join the dots if necessary. As a result, his films transcend from just storytelling to a visual experience. 

Niharika also gives birth to a refreshingly new actress, Anuradha. By now, she is a known face to many OTT-long Bengali audiences. But watching her in this film is a revelation. She has delivered a mature performance that will be remembered for a long time. Silajit is known to be a great actor and he elevates the character of Akash (Deepa’s maternal uncle) with his prowess. Mallika Mazumder is another box of surprises. She is restrained, and a dignified loner as Keya, Akash’s wife. Anindya Sengupta is also adequately perfect with his aspirations that directly counter that of Deepa. Rangan loves Deepa. However, they helplessly hone the opposite vision in life. Several actors, including those who play members of Deepa’s Kolkata house, are jarring. In fact, the Kolkata house is so overused that a seasoned Bengali film audience will take no time to figure out the blueprint of the building. However, the locations in Simultala are outstanding. 

Verdict: Niharika is a must-watch. It doesn’t have a huge star cast and a gripping plot. But it offers what is expected from a good cinema – it instills emotions and leaves a lasting impact in mind.