Kakababur Protyaborton review: Directed by Srijit Mukherji, Prosenjit Chatterjee starrer unfolds a weak thriller

2/5

Story:

Kakababur Protyaborton is based on Sunil Gangopadhyay’s story Jongoler Modhye Ek Hotel, where Raja Roy Choudhury aka Kakababu (Prosenjit Chatterjee) along with his nephew and sidekick Santu (Aryann Bhowmik) sets out for an adventure in the land of Africa.

It’s the third film from the Kakababu franchise.

Kakababu and Santu land on the vast horizon of savanna and they check into the famed Little Viceroy hotel in Kenya’s Maasai Mara national game reserve. And an adventurous expedition lands them in the thick and savage jungle. Kakababu intended to relax but he intuited a foul play when he heard about the disappearance of two German tourists which reminds him of the death of a wildlife conservationist, a few years back. The prospects of an uneventful holiday vanish away completely when Kakababu receives a death threat from an unknown entity via phone call. And in between, a certain Misti Bangali Amol De (Anirban Chakrabarti) introduces himself as the owner of a local Bengali restaurant and further proposes to join their trip. Kakababu smells a ploy when he interacts with the owner of the hotel, Mr. Livingstone and decides to dig in further which lands both of them in a series of life-threatening situations.

Review

There’re character twists, rampaging wild animals, hot air balloon rides and some suspenseful sequences amidst the vast grasslands but the film still lacks the kick. At points, the film tries too hard to be serious but turns out silly in spite of combining fun-laden adventures and nature documentaries.

There are nail-biting encounters with Mother Nature and humans but the in-your-face film branding moments are a bit irritating and forced beyond the scope of the main narrative.

It gradually turns into a David Attenborough monologue when Kakababu (Prosenjit Chatterjee) starts explaining the great migration of wildebeests from Maasai Mara to Serengeti and Santu (Aryann Bhowmik) displays the excitement of an overgrown bemused kid. Chatterjee remains wooden for the most part and the rest of his facial reaction opts to stay hidden behind his Desi handlebar mustache. Only Anirban Chakrabarti’s avatar excelled and he proved his mettle once again portraying multiple shades while delivering poorly written dialogues with convincing prowess.

Director Srijit Mukherji also plays a hotelier PR Lohia on screen and delivers a rather convincing performance but with someone else’s dubbed voice.

The constant references of Feluda and the team are simply annoying and at points, nonsensical as well. They could not hold the paper-thin script line together and the surprises are patchy. The plotline is linear but the simplistically plotted narrative fails to deliver an impact and live up to the hype that was created around it for the past two years.

‘Phire Elo Kakababu’, the opening song is composed by Indraadip Dasgupta and sung by Rupam Islam. It absolutely sets up the mood for the upcoming adventure. The closing title shows Kakababu and Santu explaining the game of cricket to the tribals of Maasai Mara and the song “Teen tirikkhey noy” works aptly for concluding the journey. It’s sung by the trio Anindya Chatterjee, Upal Sengupta and Chandril Bhattacharya from the band Chandrabindoo.

It isn’t a “good” movie in the usual sense or most senses, however, it is adventurous and definitely fills up the void for children’s summer movies. It ricochets off the adventure bit and paints a grand dimension but somehow fails to engage the viewers.

Verdict

Movies must be valued based on their goals and aspirations or simply purpose and Kakababur Protyaborton aspires to be a summer holiday entertainment for kids. It’s more popcorn fun with wild documentaries amorphously mashed into a franchise. The ingredients are all there but not in the right order or pattern. Being someone with a childlike curiosity, I hated the logic behind explaining Santa but if you’re looking for a naive theme park ride of a movie, you’re going to like it.

Checkout the trailer