Project: Shubho Bijoya
Lead Cast: Gurmeet Choudhary (Shubho), Debina Bonnerjee (Bijaya)
Direction: Ram Kamal Mukherjee
Platform: BiiggBang
Ratings: 3.5 stars
“Love is friendship that has caught on fire.” This is one of the many quotes by renowned American columnist Ann Landers about the beautiful concept of love that has gained popularity. More often than not, we talk about it as a beautiful feeling that changes the way a person perceives the world. Not just that, the popular belief is that once two people fall in love with each other, it’s the start of a beautiful and long journey together. But hey, do all love stories have a beautiful and ‘long’ journey? Is it always a ‘happy ending’? While some couples are blessed to have that, there are also love stories which ‘crumble like a house of cards’ . Director Ram Kamal Mukherjee carries forward a similar sentiment to narrate the ‘tragic’ yet heartwarming love story of Shubho (Gurmeet) and Bijaya (Debina).
Shubho (Gurmeet) and Bijaya (Debina) are two individuals who are ruling the roost in the showbiz industry. While Shubho is one of the most popular and respected photographers, Bijaya has been a leading supermodel right from the word ‘go’ in her entertainment career. The duo meet for a campaign and eventually fall in love. Their love story has a perfect beginning and everything seems hunky-dory until one fine day, Bijaya gets the shocking news that she has been diagnosed with skin cancer. Upon hearing this, she’s completely taken aback and doesn’t know how to break the news to her boyfriend, Shubho. The calamity only worsens when Bijaya hears that Shubho has suffered a serious car accident and has been hospitalized. Once she reaches the hospital, she hears from Shubho’s doctor, who’s also his friend, that he has lost his eyesight. Despite their respective lives having come to a standstill, they don’t lose faith in love and continue to embrace each other despite their flaws. With literally no time left, Bijaya continues to be a ‘pillar of strength’ for Shubho inspite of the odds being against her. Till her very last breath, she is convinced that Shubho is clueless about her skin cancer disease. But, was that really the case? Did a ‘visually-impaired’ Shubho pretend to not know about her skin condition just to ensure that his ‘lady-love’ breathes her last without any guilt or is there more than what meets the ‘eye’? No spoilers here onwards.
What We Loved: Director Ram Kamal Mukherjee gets it right from the very first frame as he shows the real-life couple as ‘Shubho’ and ‘Bijaya’ in the movie. Gurmeet and Debina are absolutely effortless when it comes to expressing their love for each other on-screen and no wonder they are fondly called as ‘two souls embedded in one heart’. The chemistry between the two seems natural and as easy as a ‘cakewalk’. The use of subtle background score to appeal to the minds of the audience during emotional scenes deserves a special whistle. Both Gurmeet and Debina have done justice to their characters and they play a pivotal role in making the narrative look ‘smooth like butter’. Special mention for Debina Bonnerjee and her makeup team for making the ‘prosthetics’ look extremely natural during the climax scene. The scene where Bijaya’s character breathes her last on Shubho’s lap is so heart-rending that it will bring tears to your eyes.
What Could Have Been Better: Call it a rare observation or opinion but had the ‘length’ of the project been slightly extended by 20-30 mins more, it had all the makings of leaving a deeper impact in the minds and hearts of the audience. There are multiple emotions in the narrative one after the other, from a happy beginning in a love story to everything falling apart and going downhill after the skin cancer diagnosis and car accident too soon. More time was needed,most certainly to relate more.
To cut a long story short, ‘Shubho Bijoya’ is the ideal watch for you irrespective of whether you are an ardent admirer of Gurmeet Choudhary and Debina Bonnerjee or not. Kudos to director Ram Kamal Mukherjee for extracting 100% natural chemistry out of a real-life couple. The movie will teach you a lot about why love is all about cherishing the perfections and embracing the imperfections. Get set for an emotional rollercoaster ride. You are in for a treat with this one.
3.5/5 stars