Bansuri: The Flute

STORY: Madan (Ankan Mallick), a young boy who lives with his mother and grandfather, vows to become a flutist like his absent father Sadashiv (Anurag Kashyap) when his mother describes him as a great musician.

REVIEW: Inspired by Augusto’s award-winning Tamil play ‘Vanavillin Ambbu’, ‘Bansuri’ revolves around an eight-year-old boy Madan who gets inspired by his friend David’s (Deepro Sen) skills of playing the piano. Madan believes that as David has an innate talent for music like his own father, he feels that he, too, must also follow his father’s footsteps. As Madan is on his road to discover what talents run in his family, his mother Sapna Mishra (Rituparna Sengupta) gives him a flute and convince him that his father Sadashiv is a big musician in Dubai who plays the same instrument. This is how he gets inspired and tries to excel like his old man. But, what if all this is a lie? Will Madan continue being enthusiastic about his passion for flute or will he be disappointed after knowing the truth forms the crux of the story.

Writer-director Hari Viswanath’s debut Hindi feature drama presents a story of a fractured family with utter simplicity. It is intriguing the way the narrative progresses as it gives us the glimpses of the bond between two neighbourhood friends (Madan and David) and their desire to become musician just like their respective father’s. But the latter half focuses on Sadashiv and his flute-learning lessons so that he can continue living the lie Sapna has told their son. The story has ample elements to keep you engrossed but the pace of the screenplay is stagnant throughout which may tend to become a tedious watch for some viewers. Overall, the story is apt for a theatre setting but its transformation on the silver screen could have been much better to elevate it to another level.

Coming to the performances, Rituparna Sengupta outshines every other cast member in her role as a mother who wants her son to make something out of his life and a wife who is still hanging tight for her husband to return while being a dutiful daughter-in-law who lends support to her father-in-law (Masood Akhtar) and her son, Madan. Both the child artists—Ankan Mallick and Deepro Sen—deliver genuine performances and their acts are laced with innocence. Anurag Kashyap enters post interval, but he makes his presence felt. The rest of the cast has helped in pushing the narrative forward.

In a nutshell, ‘Bansuri’ has its heart at the right place, however, it fails to leave a lasting impact on the audience. Truth be told, even the sincere performances couldn’t cause us to hear the strains of the flute till far.