Bow Barracks Forever

Quite an unusual name for a film-this is what most people will think when they hear it for the first time. And it’s not wrong too. But it is the love for the unusual that will lure them to watch this film. And these people will not be disappointed as this film is off the beaten track. Pritish Nandy does have a knack of picking up societal topics that are never really addressed or even noticed and transforming them into films. These films find a way to get under your skin and make you ache like the characters in it. Bow Barracks Forever is no different. This film has already been critically acclaimed in a number of international film festivals. But it still remains to be seen if it will be commercially accepted in a country like India.

Rating: 3/5

Victor Bannerjee and Lillette Dubey in Bow Barracks Forever

The film is centered on Bow Barracks – a crude “Bustee” of sorts. This is another thing that the English left us as their legacy and in a small part of Kolkata, their way of life is still preserved. In this film, we see the life, dreams and fears of a community that are living and fighting to protect their identity and their home-Bow Barracks. Inspite of all the changes that are going on around them-the malls, the roads, the sky scrapers and all, they choose to live like they have always lived-as the English. This choice is not an easy one because they are constantly being cajoled, threatened and goaded by builders and developers to give up their home and live comfortably elsewhere. Nevertheless, they tick by it. In all their eyes, there is a common dream of living in the queen’s land. The beautiful part is how none of them can actually make it and how they still don’t loose hope. We see Victor Bannerjee as Peter the Cheater-a soldier who never could let go of his glory days and revels in them, but supplements his less than glorious present by skimming people. We also get a peek into the life of Emily Lobo (Lillette Dubey), who speaks endlessly about her wonderful son who left for UK a while back. Only, that same son does not want to keep in touch with his mother anymore. It is heart rending to see how she refuses to accept this and never gives up calling him, even if only to get his answering machine. We also see Neha Dubey as the suffering wife of an abusive Armenian smuggler and her lover who hates the new India.

Victor Bannerjee and Lillette Dubey in Bow Barracks Forever

In this brief visit that we have into the lives of a small Anglo-Indian community, it makes us wonder if we are actually responsible for murdering culture. Are we so blinded by progress that we can’t see how we are ruining society? Anjan Dutt really gets one thinking about such basic questions that we hardly give a thought to.

Lillette Dubey in Bow Barracks Forever

Though this movie does not possess the best technical work, it does possess heart and soul. This is something that we have not seen in a long time in Indian cinema and that makes this worth a watch.

Rating: 3/5

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