Review of Abar Aranye

Lovers of Ray's film should avoid this film if at all possible. It was maybe a good idea to get the surviving cast of DAYS AND NIGHT IN THE FOREST back together again and invent a story for them. But this is very poor: it is full of inconsequential moments, pointless dialogue, seemingly-randomly-chosen songs, awkward melodrama, clumsy political interjections and nonsensical plot-developments. It is rambling, unfocused and overlong and really quite boring. The only good thing is that the film magnifies and amplifies what made Ray so great; his subtlety, deftness and grace are completely lacking here, and so we look back with longing; if only Ray were still making films...