Amartya Bhattacharya’s ‘Lahari’ (Odia) is a sweetly eccentric dramedy that comments on capitalism without forgetting to be fun

This feature is about a group of non-city folks who start an eco-resort, and deal with the eccentricities of tourists spoiled by capitalism. There is an enjoyable element of the absurd, and the quirky characters from a corner of the country keep us invested in their hijinks. That’s the brief review. A more detailed discussion follows, and it may contain spoilers.

Amartya Bhattacharya’s eighth feature, , tells the story of a bunch of quirky characters. One of them is a boatman named Bhuta (Choudhury Jayaprakash Das). When we first meet him, he is ferrying a city-based photographer who wants Bhuta to be a subject and not a model. “What’s the difference?” Bhuta asks. The photographer says that a model’s poses are staged, whereas a subject is captured naturally by the camera. Bhuta wants to know what’s the use of all this, when people can smile for the camera and slip back into their grumpy faces once the shot is taken. Also, by asking Bhuta to lean this way and that way, isn’t the photographer making him a “model” rather than a “subject”? This folksy wisdom of these people away from the city forms the foundation of this movie.

You can read the rest of the review here:

https://www.galattaplus.com/amartya-bhattacharyas-lahari-odia-is-a-sweetly-eccentric-dramedy-that-comments-on-capitalism-without-forgetting-to-be-fun/

You can watch the trailer / video review here:

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