17th September

Story: A young couple, Neel and Labanya (Soham Chakraborty and Arunima Ghosh), are ready to file their divorce. Labanya is frustrated with their financial struggles. Neel becomes irritable because of the continous jibes from his wife. Will the quarrelling couple, who love each other despite fights, find the middle path?

Review: The name of the film, 17th September, could have suggested a historic event, a national celebration or a global apocalypse. All thanks to films that have been named after dates. But from the very beginning of the film's runtime, you will understand that the crisis in the lives of the two central characters is nothing short of an unforgettable disaster.
When the director and screenplay writer of a film chooses to show a much-in-love couple filing for divorce, the audience naturally sympathises. But then comes the obvious part of making the couple look like they are still in love. This is where the film falters. There are plenty of scenes that have Soham delivering dialogues on his love for the wife, played by Arunima. He even leaves his job to attend his sister-in-law's wedding!
All this when all Labanya does is crib about their small flat and car in Kolkata day in and day out! She repeatedly says she has had enough of their everyday financial struggles. At one point, Labanya claims to single-handedly manage household chores and also work outside. But you never really see her working in any of the scenes. Besides, amid physical assaults and slangs, Labanya asks for divorce but even after that, they occasionally bond over beer! Also, nothing except the dialogues suggest that they are going through tremendous monetary problems.
The film tries to establish a lot of points but none convincingly. The couple's love don't resonate well. Their fights seem too serious for a reconciliation but the director ends up making light of the situation quickly. There are passing mentions of certain facts like low-paying media jobs, how youngsters from suburbs find it difficult to survive in Kolkata, how Bangalore means a good-hike job to them and why in a joint family financial crisis is never a burden on the couple. But none of these is weaved well into the scenes. It's just the dialogues that explain each situation. There's drama but the romance is trapped somewhere in between trying to be real and candyfloss.
The pleasantly surprising part is that all the actors have done well despite the fact that the script lacks well-fleshed out characters. Soham and Arunima are natural. But Arunima's character deserves better treatment. Ambarish and Anindita, in fact, are more relatable. Veteran actors have done their bit too.
Music, editing and cinematography don't leave any mark as such. The film ends on a cliched note.