‘Reunion’: Reasons to watch the Parambrata-Raima starrer slice-of-a-life drama

Murari Rakshit’s directorial debut ‘Reunion’ taps into the nostalgia of old college friends coming together after a long time. And when it’s a university in Bengal how can student politics and the related violence be left behind? ‘Reunion’ focuses on blending the wistfulness attached to a walk down the memory lane with the brutality of hard-nosed politics. Starring Parambrata and Raima in the lead, the film is releasing today. Scroll down to have a look at these 5 significant reasons to watch ‘Reunion’.

The film, based on hostel life, stars Parambrata Chatterjee, Raima Sen, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Samadarshi Dutta, Indrasish Roy, Sourav Das, Anindita Basu and Saayoni Ghosh in important roles. As we have seen in the teaser of ‘Reunion’, it starts with the words 'Fele asa sonali din' referring to the 'good old days' while some students speak about Rudra (Parambrata). As the characters guide us to Rudra’s journey, it seems he was like an angel for some and for others he was just too ambitious. Sabyasachi Chakraborty can be seen as the father of Raima Sen's character who is Rudra's love interest. Sabyasachi, also Rudra’s teacher, tries to convince his daughter to leave Rudra. We have also seen some glimpses of an altercation and a small explosion, which leaves behind a bloodied Rudra. A student politician Rudra, his escapades and the mystery he once created – that’s what makes the film’s plot an interesting one.

Films shedding lights on student politics with authenticity are quite rare, though directors like Mrinal Sen emerged as iconic figures with their cinematic view on the turbulent ’70s politics. In Hindi, Gulzar’s ‘Mere Apne’ (1971), Tigmanshu Dhulia’s ‘Haasil’ (2003) and Sudhir Mishra’s ‘Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi’ (2003) tried to bring in some authenticity in the subject. Bengal’s university politics has often been a crucial, brutal affair, while propelling the players into the big game of politics. ‘Reunion’ depicts the politics of the 1990s quite well. This was significant period in Bengal, as the left, with almost 25 years of power-driven arrogance, was rapidly ceding their ground. The strength of the film lies in leaving the importance of student politics to students only, without any external, corrupting influences intruding.

Against the backdrop of 90s West Bengal, ‘Reunion’ deals with politics and its effects on the students but that’s not all. Nostalgia has a key role to play in the narrative. The story sees a group of University students from the 1995 batch and their reunion after almost 20 years. As the group finally meets, they find out one of their senior (Parambrata) is now in a village near Darjeeling as he decides to dedicate his life to the villagers in the hilly area. Raima will be seen as an independent lady Monideepa who had a crush on Parambrata’s character in her college life.

This film is sort of a musical reunion for the big names of the Bengali music industry. Joy Sarkar, Shilajit Majumder, Rupam Islam and Rupankar Bagchi – all have joined hands to create a masterpiece for ‘Reunion’. Interestingly, this is the first time Rupam and Rupankar will sing a duet. “I should thank Rupam for working with me. We have worked earlier but this song is something special. Rupankar has also lent his voice for two songs - one is a duet with Rupam. It’s in a crucial stage in the film. Rajib Chakraborty, the lyricist, who has penned three songs for the film has also worked really hard,” an excited Joy Sarkar said recently. ‘Reunion’ has five songs — one is by Nachiketa Chakraborty, a hostel anthem sung by Shilajit Majumder, the duet 'Manush Akhono Manusher Pase' by Rupam and Rupankar, a folk number from Shaan and Iman Chakraborty, along with the theme song crooned by Timir Biswas, Rupankar and Joy Sarkar himself. There is also a Rabindra Sangeet by Anima Roy.

‘Reunion’ sees Parambrata Chatterjee and Raima Sen teaming up after Kaushik Ganguly’s ‘Bastu Shaap’ (2016). Raima plays an independent lady Monideepa in the film. The film actually stands on the strength of two shining performances by Parambrata and Raima. Seasoned performers as they always have been, the pair would have carried this off in their sleep as well and it’s the presence of the two acting powerhouses that gives the film its elegiac undertones, and an open-ended climax.