Kuler Achaar Movie Review: A flawed recipe that leaves a bitter aftertaste

Changing one’s surname after marriage is a subject of some debate today. In many households, it’s imperative for the women to take up her husband’s name, and a refusal to do so can be catastrophic. Based on this trope, Kuler Achar opens to the story of Mithi and Pritam, newlyweds who find themselves in a compromising position on their honeymoon when the validity of their marriage is questioned because Mithi refuses to change her surname. Based on this, gearing up for a romantic comedy with a slice of drama was what the audience had expected, perhaps, but the plot changes quickly and becomes more serious, yet, the logic or reasoning seems flawed in the outset, which continues throughout the film and confuses people considerably. This, along with the main cast’s inability to capture attention for long is what perhaps creates trouble in this particular cinema’s paradise. Vikram Chatterjee’s expressions leave a lot to be desired, and his chemistry with Madhumita Sarcar falls short, which leads to Indrani Haldar and Neel Mukherjee assuming larger and more expansive roles quite emphatically in the second half of the film. Mukherjee, as Pranotosh, is quite hilariously natural, while Indrani Haldar’s Mitali is relatable, approachable, and in the course of the film, her character sparkles like the light in her eyes when she talks of alukabli. Madhumita Sarcar’s Mithi has a general uncertainty about her that is perhaps not acting, but, at the end of the day, it works. Vikram Chatterjee stands mostly in stoic silence, and although one hopes he would speak up or express more, the lack thereof in extremely crucial scenes was painful to watch, especially when he had the scope for creating really interesting moments in multiple spaces. His restrained reactions also slow down the pace of the film considerably, and that may be considered to be another issue. The main issue with the narrative is its contradictory nature and the lack of a ‘real’ disagreement, or drama, in general. Cinematography is well-construed, while Iman Chakraborty’s ‘Ami amar moddhye’ is rather sonorous, but all of it couldn’t make up for the fact that in the end, in order to keep everyone happy, the narrative compromises and trivializes the cause it started with, and the discourse it began with just falls apart, leaving the audience with a sharp, sour taste in their mouth as the film reaches its conclusion.— Poorna Banerjee