Aaleya review: Noble intentions get lost in flawed execution

Dr Humayun Kabir’s Aaleya fails to be a thoroughly gripping thriller. The film merely recounts a series of events that reflects the dreadful consequences of communal sentiments. The film also conveys that when it comes to corruption and crime, religious identities do not make any difference. The film rather seems like a documentation of a criminal case that doesn’t offer any internal journey. Besides a few moments of innocent friendship of four teenage classmates, the film doesn’t provide any relief or moments to relate with for the audience.

Watching the film can turn into a rather tiresome journey as it lacks the required thrill; nor does it effectively convey any of the social messages in it. The revelations or the turn of events cannot be termed as twists as they hardly generate any anticipation.

In the film, sub-inspector Sumana Ray (Tanushree Chakraborty) is ‘the angry young woman’ who is responsible in her duties and is adept at hunting down criminals. She is pretty and has modern views as well. Therefore, her successes often give birth to more foes than friends. She gets transferred for the murder of an innocent girl in an encounter, but at the same time, she is given the liberty to choose her new area as she has been able to finally capture a criminal who has been on the run for long.

The police officer (Kharaj Mukherjee) at the Hasnabad police station taunts her for her radical actions and for not being married at her age. Sumana doesn’t react, but at the same time she gives away the hint that she cannot be brought into control once she is enraged.

Hasnabad is Sumana’s birth place too. As soon as she gets posted there, she is put in charge of the murder of an unidentified lady. As she begins her investigations, she is forced to go back to her teenage days in school and revisit her precious friendships.

How does Sumana get to the bottom of the murder case? Who is Aaleya?

Honestly, the uncanny relation of all the four friends to the crime seems a bit unrealistic. Also, not all of them play crucial roles in solving the crime. The sequences involving the character of Rumana (Saayoni Ghosh) rather seem redundant. They seem to have been included in the film just for the sake of giving the actress a bit of screen space. Nevertheless, the genuine friendship is the only element that establishes a storyline in the crime story.

The director has attempted to establish Sumana’s strength as a police inspector, but only through her rough appearance and physical exercises. In the entire investigation her character doesn’t exhibit any extra ordinary prowess to unfold the mystery. In fact, she has the least contribution in solving the case. The flaws in sketching her character bring down the thriller quotient to a great deal. It also creates technical errors in conveying the strength of women through the film.

The climax of the film is unpredicatable and flat at the same time. It does connect the previous series of events, but lacks in the potential to surprise at the end of a tedious narrative.

Tanushree Chakraborty delivers her performance as per the director’s demand. She perfects the gestures of a police officer. Sadly, her abilities remain confined to her physical attitude. The sequences in which she grieves, don't really bring out new dimensions in her character.

Priyanka Sarkar delivers a decent act as the vulnerable victim of relentless atrocities inflicted upon her. Ankita Chakraborty, essays a dramatic portrayal as Shyamali. Badshah Moitra and Kharaj Mukhejee both do justice to their brief roles.

Needless to say, the actor, who stands above all and steals all the attention right from the moment he enters the screen, is Kaushik Ganguly. He perfects the polarities of his character with finesse. He sends chills down the spine with his shrewdness.

Goutam Halder cannot rein in his theatrical and over-the-top acts as a fundamentalist and autocratic father. The actor who plays the character of Prahlad remains consistent throughout.

The dialogues in the film seem to have been written half-heartedly. Like the characters, the dialogues lack the necessary depth that could have left an impact on the audience’s mind.

The background score by Savvy Gupta is repetitive and clichéd.

Dr Humayun Kabir’s intended messages in the film are undoubtedly clear but the problems lie in the execution. He attempts to present a story of a strong woman, who withstands all the insults targeted at her and brings justice to another vulnerable woman, but the outcome turns out to be quite sketchy.