A story titled “Staff Photographaror Chobi” by renowned Assamese writer Dr Nagen Saikia has been brought to celluloid as Wide Angle under the banner of Swavalamban Media and Entertainment, with Debajyoti Bora as the producer. The film had a theatrical release recently. The lead character Dilip Bhagawati, essayed by Tapan Das, is a benevolent human who works as a staff photographer in a local newspaper and does not hesitate to leave all his work and duties aside, just to donate blood to save a fellow human. The character faces myriad challenges in life as a husband, family man, and good neighbour as well as the trials and tribulations of a professional in the backdrop of Assam agitation. He has to meet the deadlines and demands of his newspaper editor, many times at the cost of journalistic ethics. A scene in the film where a news item is already prepared at the news desk for an event, which subsequently gets cancelled, exemplifies his precarious position.
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The script of the film is well-written by Pankajjyoti Bhuyan and directed by Jayanta Nath. For those who had gone through the days of Assam agitation, this film may well turn out to be very nostalgic, and for those who are curious about the days and ways of Assam agitation, long gone by, this film gives a glimpse of everyday life those days, with the police high handedness and police making life difficult for the ordinary citizen, especially in rural and semi-rural areas.
Zubeen Garg makes a cameo appearance. Aparna Dutta Choudhury, Jolly Laskar, and Pabitra Baruah, among others, play important roles in the film. It is a well-paced film. However, some of the scenes, especially those involving police brutality, could have been captured and presented better. Overall, it is Tapan Das who steals the show with his acting prowess.
It is heartening to observe that a series of Assamese films with varied subjects are seeing the light of the day. It is important that viewers throng the cinema halls to watch such beautifully curated films.
(All views and opinions expressed in the article are the author’s own)