This director Anjan Dutt's second release within a month, (Bong Connection being the other). The film has more nostaligic value than anything else. With this film, Anjan takes a look into the lives of the fast-dwindling Anglo-Indian community living in Kolkata. In particular, it is about the inhabitants of a building called Bow Barracks.

Bow Barracks used to be a garrison of the American soldiers at one point of time. The dilapidated red- bricked building, which is a heritage structure, now faces the threat of being broken down. Land sharks are hovering around the building and the film opens with one of the families – the Dawsons selling off their flat and belongings and migrating to Australia. The film then delves into the lives and aspirations of those left behind, most of who would rather be someplace else. The dilapidated building, on the verge of extinction, becomes a rather obvious metaphor for the dwindling numbers of Anglo-Indians in the city and perhaps also for the passing of an era in the city of Kolkata. The city has changed too. It has an uglier, meaner face and is lagging behind in the consumer race.

Bow Barracks Forever is not just one story. But is made up of many smaller stories, all about people would rather be somewhere else than here. Not of, course Peter, the cheater (Victor Banerjee), who professes to love the city he was born in and the Bow Barracks. But for the older generation, like Emily Lobo (Lilette Dubey), it is all about going to London. There is a schizophrenic quality to their lives. They are not fully Indians and yet not quite phirangs. They are caught somewhere in no man's land and that probably is their little tragedy. The younger generation is equally confused. So we have a Sally, who runs away to Mumbai, becomes a singer and comes back to take part in the concert organized to save the Bow Barracks. Or there is the case of Bradley (Clayton Rodgers), Emily's younger son. He works as an announcer at a music store and in his free time plays with his band as well. There is also Anne, a battered wife, who finds solace in Bradley's arms. Bradley's tragedy is that he knows that even his best can only ultimately get him a job as a waiter in Park Street, the city's posh area.

Within this larger framework of despair and disillusion stands the building. The residents slowly start rallying around to save their homes, and the very act is life-affirming and liberates them from their past. Bradley is finally able to confront his mother and tell her to stop treating him like a kid. He is able to make her face the truth that they will never go to London, because Keith, the elder son, will never call them. He makes her face up to the mediocrity of their existence. He makes her look at the now and not some distant rosy future. It liberates Bradley to the extent that he is able to face Anne's smuggler husband and ask him to lay off Anne. He earns a bullet in the bargain but earns his mother's respect as well. It is a coming of age for him, in a way. Ultimately, with the help of Peter, the cheater, residents of Bow Barracks get together and celebrate Bradley's wedding and the concert that has been organised to save the Barracks.

The film has its moments, but somehow fails to grip on the whole. It sags in most places. The screenplay could have much tauter. It begins quite promisingly and the opening sequence is a good exercise in exposition. What the film does really well is capture the lives of the people of Bow Barracks. We share their most intimate moments as well as their darkest hours. The look, the talk, the dress, everything has been worked out in the minutest of degrees. As a documentary on the lives and times of the residents of the heritage building, there is no fault that you can pick on. But as a film one does have a slight problem with the flaccid screenplay. It seems to meander on aimlessly, or so it seems, at times.

There are many fine performances in the film with Victor Bannerjee, as the con artist, Peter the cheater, standing out. He plays the con artist with real charm. It's quite unusual to see him as the buffoon, having mostly seen him play characters invested with a lot of dignity. He works his magic on the audience, just as his character does on his many unsuspecting victims. Lillete Dubey as Emily Lobo also turns in a very nuanced performance. Neha Dubey is quite good as well. But the true star after Victor is Clayton, the actor who plays the role of Bradley. He is cast perfectly as the lost and hopeless son of Emily. He makes that transition from a boy to man when he stands up to Anne's bullying husband. He redeems himself in his eyes as well as that of his mother and his sweetheart. Clayton brings out the sense of despair in his performance very well. Most of the minor characters are played by theatre actors from Kolkata. Rupa Ganguly makes a brief appearance but impresses in the small cameo. The film is brought alive by the characters who inhabit its celluloid space.

Director Anjan Dutt has made a commendable effort to bring alive Bow Barracks and its inhabitants. But ultimately the film is not great cinema. In fact, Bow Barracks Forever remains a film to be valued more for its sentimental reasons than any other.