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| Cast: Victor Banerjee, Roopa Ganguly, Sabyasachi Chakravarthy, Moon Moon Sen and Lilette Dubey | | Director: Anjan Dutt | | Producer: Producer | | Music: Neel Dutt and Anjan Dutt |
Anupama Chopra, Consulting Editor, Films
Bow Barracks Forever is director Anjan Dutt's take on the miniscule but feisty Anglo-Indian community in Kolkata.
The Bow Barracks is an old, dilapidated building in north Kolkata. The Barracks were used as a garrison for World War II soldiers.
Around 140 Anglo-Indian families still live in the Barracks, which are over 100 years old and are increasingly being eyed by real estate developers.
The decrepit but resolute building becomes a metaphor for the lives of its residents.
Working with a wonderful ensemble cast, Dutt creates an array of compelling characters: Victor Banerjee as Peter the Cheater, a drunk trumpet player who sells a 30 year old fridge as an antique claiming it was once used by Jyoti Basu.
Lilette Dubey as Emily Lobo, who bakes cakes and lives in hope that one day her NRI son will rescue her from the barracks. Moon Moon Sen as Rosa, a beautiful woman gone to seed. She is desperate to get out but has no place to go.
And Neha Dubey as Anne, a woman who silently endures horrific beatings at the hands of her abusive husband Tom. These and several other characters struggle with their crumbling lives and their crumbling building. Dutt tells these stories with affection and empathy.
Bow Barracks is often clumsy, slow and even unintentionally comical. After a while, Peter's incessant trumpet playing becomes more annoying than poignant.
And Dutt, who also wrote the film, resolves the various conflicts simplistically. But the film has its heart in the right place. The actors balance each other nicely.
Banerjee and Lilette Dubey are wonderful and I loved Moon Moon Sen, fleshy, desperate and not afraid of being vulgar.
Like its lead characters, Bow Barracks is flawed and flailing but also, engaging. I recommend that you see it.
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Surfer Speaks....
i think its a pathetic movie, to say the least. Distastefully made. i would categorise it as a cheap porno stuff. Dont waste your money. Give it a pass -- K Guha
Is the movie about Bow Barracks or is it about the Anglo-Indian community?
If it is about the Barracks, then it can be accepted as just another movie with a fictional storyline.
If, however, it is an attempt by the makers to portray the lifestyle of the Anglo-Indian community, then it's nothing but a hopeless misrepresentation of facts. -- mike
it is the best movie about those whos are rapidly vanishing from the streets & heatrs of kolkata.The songs of BOW BARRACKS FORVER touches our heart. -- sayon ghosh (sayon_ghosh2002@yahoo.com)
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