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Review - Bow Barracks Forever: Nicely made but has a plot that refuses to move
Bow Barracks Forever
![[Poster for Bow Barracks Forever]](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2555/4117207080_3c263a23f2_m.jpg)
Half an hour into the movie, I was amazed at how well I knew the dozen-odd characters. This was achieved by characters saying and doing things in a small sub-plot. Pretty impressive, that they didn't go the mundane voiceover route. Unfortunately though, most of the characters continue doing the same thing for the next hour and a half too.
Movies like this exist neither to shock nor entertain nor thrill nor to provide relief from the daily grind. They are made just because someone thought more people should hear this story. Almost all the characters are gray and they exist just for you to know them - not for you to judge or feel for.
Since the going was slow, I had a lot of time to pay attention to things other than the "object" of the camera, and what he/she is saying/doing. Especially, since they did not have anything new to say/do after a while. The background stood out. The narrative is set up in a crowded set of buildings - Bow Barracks. There is constant but changing noise (children playing, people cooking, etc) in the background which adds flavor to the scene. The messy rooms reflected the personalities of the occupants. Though it does raise a question in my organization-crazy mind - did none of them really care for any sort of orderliness?! Oh well...
I also enjoyed the picturization of the songs. The style was similar in all songs - shots of the singer singing, interspersed with the happenings at Bow Barracks. It was engaging, nevertheless, mainly because the singer was different every time and brought his/her style and nuances to the screen. The camera purposefully moves, in a style different from the way the rest of the movie is picturized, to give it the slightest video album touch.
Unfortunately, the screenplay and the dialogues make this a drag to watch. Thirty minutes shorter and the movie would improve on both counts, because inevitably all the repetitive lines would have to see the door.
So, if you are the kind for whom something needs to happen every minute, and the movie has to have an absolute definable purpose - please don't bother. But for those of you, who can ignore the flaws and focus on the characters - wait for the movie to be out on DVD and rent it when you are in a not-so-light mood.
Parental warning! Loads of profanity and sexual content. Moderate violence.
- meetu, a part of the audience
Bow Barracks Forever - Movie Details
- Official Sites: Website
- Banner: Pritish Nandy Communications
- Producer: Rangita Pritish Nandy, Pritish Nandy
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- Director: Anjan Dutt
- Lead Cast: Lilette Dubey, Victor Bannerjee, Neha Dubey, Clayton Rodgers
- Supporting Cast: Moon Moon Sen, Sabyasachi Chakravarthy
- Screenplay: Anjan Dutt
- Editor: Arghya Kamal Mitra, Hemal Kothari
- Music Director: Neel Dutt, Anjan Dutt
- Lyrics: Anjan Dutt, Neel Dutt, Usha Uthup
- Costume Designer: Chanda Dutt
- Art Direction: Tonmoy Chakraborty
- Running time: 120 minutes
- Reviewer: meetu
- Categories: Hindi Movies
- Genres: Noir
Bow Barracks Forever - Trailer
Bow Barracks Forever - All reviews summary
External Reviews
11 reviewers have given Bow Barracks Forever an average rating of 2.3/5.0. 3 yays, 4 nays, 4 so-so. See all external reviews »
Comments (10)
Review - Bow Barracks Forever...
Bow Barracks Forever has some well-etched out characters and excellent acting by most of the cast. Unfortunately though, the story is pretty much static and has no support whatsoever from the dialogues....
[...] Meetu : “Unfortunately, the screenplay and the dialogues make this a drag to watch. Thirty minutes shorter and the movie would improve on both counts, because inevitably all the repetitive lines would have to see the door.” [...]
Bore.ever For.ever
The movie is hilarious because it is so far from the truth. The producer and director took the worst part of Bow Barracks and portrayed it in a cheap way - there are other parts of Bow Barracks which were not shown. The cast was all Bengali and though the accent was pretty close, the storyline is ridiculous. Like every other community in India, there are the folks who do well and those who don't - nothing was portrayed of the Anglo Indians who had the cream of the crop jobs in India or who went to Colleges and did well and trust me there was a majority of them residing in Calcutta.
The movie is best rated as a comedy of errors.
That is good to know. Not that the audience is naive enough to believe that all anglo-indians live a sad, deprived life, but it was so lop-sided is sad. Oh well...
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Just happenned to watch this DVD the other day.
The movie is good only in the end - because it comes to an end with a beautiful song - It is just a run of the mill love story nothing more set in the ghetto type background - does not really bring out anything.
Fully agree with the review and the comments above. Unfortunately there are dierctors like Anjan Dutt and others who think that they can do good movies but end up doing poor work. They think showing crude sex scenes they will make it big like the festival films. The sly idea is only to get the crowds not really any thing else. Sex used to sell well in India movies earlioer. But now because of the internet everything is easy and cheap. So this masala has'nt worked. The best part of the film are the marvellous performances of Victor Banerjee, Lillet Dubey and the guy who did the role of Bradley. The film just drags on with the same dialogues and same action on and on . It should have been atleast an hour shorter.
Anglo Indian life style has not really come out at all and very ametureish attempt. It has all been aptly commented above - hence I will not add to it. Just wish to say that the film world would not have been any poorer if this movie was not made. The film does not make us think much and neither does it make us feel any more deeply for the Anglo Indian Community who were much misunderstood - for various reasons and not treated fairly by all. They really lived in a very strange world of their own This was so thoughtfully shown in Aparna Sens 36 Chowringhee Lane.
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