The colour tone of the flashbacks chosen by the colourist Soumitra Sarkar deserves special mention as it creates the ambience of a blurring past with authenticity.
Cakewalk review: Esha Deol returns in a well-made short film worth a one-time watch
Cinestaan Rating
Release Date: 2019 / 27min
Roushni Sarkar | Kolkata, 06 Mar 2019 8:00 IST
The interesting aspect of Ram Kamal Mukherjee’s short film Cakewalk lies in the connection that it establishes between its title and its content. It has quite a simple narrative, which is not too unpredictable; however, it is presented nicely with the compact turn of events and a suitable background song that states “life is not a cakewalk”.
Shilpa Sen (Esha Deol) is the head chef of a five-star restaurant in Kolkata. She is the former runner-up of a masterchef competition. Her subordinates often talk behind her back because of the privileges she gets sometimes. However, she proves her worth time and again.
Shilpa and her department of bakery get the instruction to bake a cake for a special guest with the promise to receive an incentive if they manage to impress the guest. The name of the guest seems to ring a bell in Sen’s mind; however, she devotes herself totally into making the cake.
Arnab Chowdhury (Tarun Malhotra), the CEO of an aircraft company lands in the hotel to celebrate his anniversary with wife (Anindita Bose). The cake is to be made specially for him. What memories does Sen have with Arnab? Why does, while making the cake, Sen convince herself that life is not a cakewalk?
The short film shows how dreams never should be abandoned and if relationships are there to survive, they will survive with the adjustment of priorities. Though the film doesn’t delve much into baking or food, yet it subtly establishes a connection with dreams, nostalgia, emotions and food.
Esha Deol doesn’t seem to appear like a culinary expert; however, she manages to churn out the emotions at the crucial moments. Tarun Malhotra is rather impressive in his brief appearance, bringing out the frustrations of an egoistic husband and then feeling helpless to be treated at the hand of Karma. Anindita Bose, too, does a decent job.
The director could have cast somebody else instead of Siddhartha Chatterjee as Shilpa’s non-Bengali boss, as his Bengali accent sounds quite odd.
The colour tone of the flashbacks chosen by the colourist Soumitra Sarkar deserves special mention as it creates the ambience of a blurring past with authenticity.