Roushni Sarkar
Kolkata, 25 Dec 2021 22:30 IST
The first half is a laugh riot, but eventually the plot becomes repetitive and exhausting with its sentimental clichés.
Avijit Sen’s directorial debut Tonic, starring Dev, Paran Bandopadhyay and a host of brilliant artistes, aims at entertaining the audience every minute until the screenplay begins to get dull in the second half.
While the first half is a laugh riot, thanks to the perfect comic timing of the cast, the sentimental clichés and repetitiveness in the latter half eventually take away the spirit of the film.
Septuagenarian Jaladhar Sen (Bandopadhyay) has many unfulfilled desires, but he leads a controlled life because of the strict regulations set by his son (Neel Mukherjee). The film begins with Jaladhar attending the wedding anniversary celebration of his friend (Biswajit Chakraborty) with his family on a cruise in the middle of the Ganges. Next morning, Jaladhar’s son discusses his parents’ upcoming wedding anniversary. But the plan to celebrate the event on the terrace puts Jaladhar off and his friend makes him even more restless by instilling in him the idea of destination celebration.
Through the same friend, Jaladhar is introduced to travel agent Tonic (Dev), who promises to fulfil all of his wishes. Besides planning for a destination anniversary celebration, Jaladhar wants to prove to his son that he is not feeble and old as he is always made to feel. Hence, the entire planning is done without the son's knowledge, which sets the stage for funny moments galore.
However, not everything goes as planned and the ageing couple has no option but to head to Darjeeling secretly. In Darjeeling, Jaladhar and Uma (Shakuntala Barua) not only have the time of their lives, but with the continuous persuasion of Tonic, Jaladhar also wins over his fears and proves to himself that he is more youthful than his son will ever be.
The crisp dialogues and compactness of the screenplay bring out the best of the comic moments involving Bandopadhyay. His animated facial and physical gestures, exuding both nervousness and excitement, make him a delight to watch. The veteran also needs to be credited for making his on-screen bond with Dev's Tonic look adorable and also for bravely shooting the rafting sequence in the Teesta river.
Besides the best of dialogues and a fast-moving screenplay, the first half also boasts of the best performances by the rest of the cast, including Rajatava Dutta as the police officer who first goes to Jaladhar’s house for passport verification and later files the missing diary entry on a complaint lodged by Jaladhar’s son for his parents. Kanchan Mullick as the fake document creator is delightful in the five minutes he is on screen.
Dev as Tonic, a friend with all the solutions and convincing ideas, is better than he has been in many of his other films. He seems to have enjoyed building the camaraderie with Bandopadhyay on screen; sometimes, however, he seems to be screaming for no reason. There are certain comical catchlines in the film to lend Tonic a heroic image which lose their charm with the plot gradually becoming exhausting.
Perhaps the director wanted to add to Dev's macho screen image and also establish Jaladhar’s undaunted spirit with the detailed depiction of each of the adventures undertaken by them in Darjeeling; however, the decision backfires as it simply stretches the film needlessly.
Supriyo Dutta’s cinematography brings out the nuances of the comedy of errors by establishing some stock moments. Sujay Dutta Roy’s editing, however, fails to save the film from becoming tedious in the end.
Each of the compositions of Jeet Gannguli, especially 'E Mon Eka' rendered by Nachiketa Chakraborty and Shreya Ghoshal and 'Aaynate' sung by Anupam Roy, is a treat to the ears. The songs go well with the sentiments of Jaladhar’s generation, his ideas of romance and grief, and makes the audience nostalgic too.
It does feel, however, that the makers invested too many of their ideas in the first half and simply ran out of stock in the second. It’s a pity because the film starts off with refreshing comic moments only to disappoint the viewer in the end. However, while the central character of the film is enacted by Dev, Tonic is Paran Bandopadhyay’s film all the way. It's worth a watch simply for the veteran's impeccable screen presence.
Tonic was released in theatres across West Bengal on 24 December.