The mysterious return of Raja Mahendra Kumar Chowdhury (Jisshu U Sengupta), the second prince of the Bikrampur estate, spurs a debate and a decades-long court case. He returns as a Naga sanyasi after 12 years to claim his kingdom. But is he the one? Or is he an impostor? Surely a gripping plot! And the cine lovers accepted the court room drama with open arms. As the Srijit Mukherji film completes two years today we take a look at the main points that make ‘Ek Je Chhilo Raja’ a favourite among the movie lovers.
Entertainment that’s eloquent

Spiritual awakening is not an everyday affair. Renouncing the material requires a certain richness of heart. Braving life’s storms needs inner serenity. This may sound like a talk on spirituality but when a true story is adapted on screen keeping its essence, adding dollops of drama and creating moments of emotional connect — it is entertainment that’s eloquent.
Srijit Mukherji’s ‘Ek Je Chhilo Raja’ attempted to spellbind the audience with the fascinating tale of the Bhawal sanyasi. And it made a cinematic journey that brought to life history through one of the most intriguing stories in Bengal. With a story like that in hand, who needs to worry?
Good screenplay and acting – both in abundance

The director certainly does because a good story demands an equally good screenplay and acting. Ek Je Chhilo Raja has both in abundance. A series of competent performances from Jisshu, Anirban, Jaya, Rudranil and Rajnandini were well supported with a script that etched out each character well, irrespective of the screen timings. Two scenes of different emotional tones – the one where Jaya, who plays Jisshu’s sister, expresses her deep affection for her mejhda and the one where Jisshu begs for a dignified death from his brother-in-law Anirban and family doctor Rudranil – stand out. They tug at your heart strings without appearing over the top.

Not a typical tearjerker

But the question remains, how close are they to the facts. And while there are plenty of such scenes, the film is not a tearjerker. It rather allows you to objectively view the journey of the characters, empathise with their choices and accept them with all their flaws. Whether it’s Jaya’s impeccable Bangal bhasha and easy emotions, Jisshu’s womanising ways, spiritual awakening or struggle to come to terms with the material world, you will not relate but you will reason.

The Anjan Dutt-Aparna Sen factor

Characters played by Anjan Dutt and Aparna Sen are perhaps the most relatable ones and by being so constitutes of the most far-fetched portion in the film. A, it’s not a courtroom drama. It’s plain drama. There’s a lot of TV serial-like TRP-inducing moments, which have very little to do with real legal proceedings. B, it looks and sounds all too modern for the period shown. The nationalist sentiments and feminist shades in their dialogues sound forced. They are more like a distanced couple interacting in contemporary times. Yet, you will enjoy the breather.

Deep, penetrating emotional exchanges

Not that you need some respite because it’s a spine-chilling murder mystery. It’s not. It’s just that the deep, penetrating emotional exchanges so far in the film see a lighter tone. And this is also another scoring point for the film. It uses human emotions and all-possible relationships well by dint of its storytelling.

Actors contribute in making what could have been an ordinary narration into a poignant tale. Jisshu gets the entire screen time to surpass his best and he does. But Jaya and Anirban steal the show. Jaya emotes beautifully and Anirban improvises skilfully. Rajnandini is Chandrabati, especially for the audience that will see her for the first time. Rudranil is contained in his acting throughout, peaking at the right moment. Aparna and Anjan are a delight together.

With limited budget for Bengali films, recreating the zamindari opulence becomes a struggle. But the film manages to keep the audience engaged with the proceedings in such a way that scanning the sets will not be top of your mind.