Kahaani: a story in Kolkata

I really enjoyed watching Kahaani (lit: story) recently, but two of the things that gave me the greatest pleasure about this Bollywood film were its setting for a short restaurant scene and the way the Bengali language was woven into the film’s plot.

There was much to recommend it beyond that, as it was also a great, a-typical, Bollywood film, with no dance scenes and little use of music. (Not, I hasten to add, that I think Bollywood films have to be a-typical or – heaven forbid, music-less – in order to be great).

The film also made great use of Kolkata as a backdrop – though admittedly I am always on the lookout for Kolkata on film, and it rarely makes it to glossy Bollywood films.

So when the restaurant scene was filmed at Park Street-ish eatery Mocambo, somewhere I always try to make time to visit at least once on our trips to Kolkata, I couldn’t help trying to work out where we’d like sat in relation to the film’s protagonists. There was also nice use made of the bhalo nam/dak nam concept as a plot device.

Beyond such things the film, the story of a pregnant women on the hunt for her missing husband in a city where everyone she questions denies having ever met her husband, also really impressed as a thriller.