The Bong Connection Movie Review: Coming of age in Bong-land

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Anjan Dutt's The Bong Connection is Tollywood's contribution to the genre of crossover films. The film does a very humorous, at times satirical, take on the phenomenon called 'the Bengali', or 'Bong.' It can also be read as a 'coming of age' film.

The film has two parallel plots with a tenuous link between them. The link is the Bong connection. Apu (Parambrata Chatterjee) from Kolkata and Andy (Shyan Munshi) from New York, both Bongs, leave home in search of their dreams. At the end of the film, life takes a full circle with both making their way back home, somewhat wiser. Kolkata and its denizens play an important character in the life of Andy as does the Bong community in far-away Houstan for Apu. Kolkata for Andy is all about culture and music while for Apu, it is a stagnant city where nothing ever happens. So he leaves his girlfriend Sheela (Raima Sen) behind and goes to the USA to seek his fortune.

Apu's first introduction into the American way of life is when he gets mugged on the street. To top it, the colleague he's sharing the apartment with is gay. His intimidating boss Garry (Victor Banerjee), a NRI Bengali, is more American than Bengali. As Apu fumbles his way through the Great American Dream, he bumps into Rita (Peeya Rai Chaudhary) and the entire diaspora of Bongs in Houston. He has to fight off attempts made by Rita's family to get them married off. Dutt brings alive the life of NRI Bengalis living in Houston for years, and yet clinging on to their old way of life. It's almost as if they never left Kolkata. The only bit which never really rests very well is Apu's encounter with the Bangladeshi cab driver Hasan or Haas as he would like to call himself. That part of the film seems quite contrived and not in sync with the rest of the film.

Andy, a second generation Bengali, born and brought up in New York, comes to Kolkata with dreams of making a career in music. He makes various attempts to understand and come to terms with Kolkata, whose ways are totally alien to him. He bumps into Sheela and she shows him around. But Andy is unable to adjust to Kolkata and its whimsical ways. He cannot come to terms with the growing Bengali pop culture or the mediocrity of the traditional Bengali mindset. His attempts to make music in the city fall flat. The film ends with both Andy and Apu making their way back to their home towns, both stronger and wiser than before.

The film could only have been made by a Bengali. It's a piquant view of the Bong world, seen through the eyes of another Bengali. Writer-director Anjan Dutt makes a comment on the plight of youth caught between this cross-cultural fire. What is refreshing about the film is Dutt's tongue-and-cheek humor. But there are other colours to the film besides the self-irony and humour. There are moments, fleeting almost, which are very moving. The character of Andy's ailing grandfather, played by veteran actor Soumitra Chatterjee, is a poignant symbol of the decay of Bengali culture. A culture that is often synonymous with Rabindranath Tagore and Satyajit Ray.

The film's young cast adds that touch of authenticity to the events. Parambrata is quite refreshing as the confused corporate finding his bearings in Houston. While Munshi's laidback charm suits the character of Andy. Raima Sen and Peeya provide good support.

The Bong Connection