Tangra Blues trailer: A potentially exciting musical ride

The trailer of Supriyo Sen’s Tangra Blues takes us into the bylanes of Kolkata’s titular slum area where infamy and ingenuity co-exist. Starring Parambrata Chatterjee, Madhumita Sarkar and Samiul Alam, the film takes inspiration from the journey of a musical troupe comprising slum kids that was led by a social reformer named Sanjay Mondal. The group, which repurposes discarded items such as bottles, buckets and drums as percussion instruments, gained national prominence in 2012 after appearing on the popular reality show India’s Got Talent.

The trailer begins with music enthusiast Joey (Sarkar) landing in Kolkata from Mumbai in a bid to shine a light on the raw talent in Tangra. As she tries to explore the local musical landscape, she comes across a fictionalised version of Mondal, Sanjiv (Parambrata), who nurtures the local children's latent abilities.

Sanjiv initially has reservations about Joey given the tendencies of the privileged to exploit the poor. And the latter eventually comes to understand the everyday reality of slum dwellers, who are in a constant battle for survival amid gang wars and crime. Though Sanjiv tells her that she first needs to experience how the lives of Tangra's denizens hang by a thread in order to truly understand their music and dreams, Joey refuses to give up and vows to tell the world their story.

The efforts taken by the makers to paint a realistic picture of slum life are commendable. While the child artists seem to be quite promising as performers, Chatterjee appears to struggle when it comes to shedding his polished urban persona.

Tangra Blues promises an exciting musical ride. The film is slated to be released in theatres on 15 April.

Watch the trailer and let us know if you are keen on watching the film.