Producer: Mukesh Udeshi, Allu Arvind
Director: Sudhir Mishra
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee, Saurabh Shukla, Satish Kaushik, Sayaji Shinde, Manisha Koirala
Music: Anand Raj Anand, Viju Shah

After ‘Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin’ expectations lace filmmaker Sudhir Mishra next presentation ‘Calcutta Mail’. Acclaimed as a filmmaker of art house films, he treads commercial cinema with this emotional thriller. As the film hits the theatres it’s pretty drowning to notice that it is another run of the mill kind of Bollywood stuff with nothing novel or exciting to offer. The film is a remake of the Telugu blockbuster ‘Choodalani Vundi’.

‘Calcutta Mail’ narrates the story of Avinash (Anil Kapoor) who comes to Calcutta in search of his son. It is than that he meets Rima (Rani Mukherjee) a novelist as he boards a room in a chawl along with her. Her activities make him quite suspicious of her. Actually she has disguised herself to observe the manners of the people staying there. Rima falls in love with him. Avinash continues his search for his son and comes across a Ghatak (Saurabh Shukla). Saurabh tells him about Sayaji Shinde a criminal from Patna who kills people whenever he wishes and is believed to have kidnapped with his son and is hiding in Kolkata. But Anil never gets hold of Sayaji. Saurabh in the meantime tells Sayaji everything about Anil and his purpose. Sayaji attempts to murder Avinash twice.

Avinash than narrates his tale to Rima in a flashback. He tells about Manisha Koirala who ran from her father Satish Kaushik, a shrewd industrialist who wanted her to marry Sayaji. Anil saves her from a train accident and they fall in love. They get married and are happy with their son Yeshu. But Manisha’s father traces her and kills her while Yeshu is missing from then on. Anil is very much upset with the mishappenings and his son whom he is unable to trace.

Sudhir excels in capturing the essence of Kolkata through the screenplay. The film has got a very realistic touch and feel as the film is actually shot there. Certain scenes in the film highlight his elegance as a director. Some of the scenes are well executed but again that’s a rare view. The film is hailed as an emotional quotient, but it lacks to make you emote or rather make you bite your nails in thrill. The flow of the film is another set back as the suspense and characters are not elaborated. The songs look forced and mar the pace of the film. Dialogues and cinematography is also just okay.

The film holds on only due to the performances of the big stars in the league. Anil Kapoor comes up with a powerhouse performance. He emotes tremendously and holds the moments of the film together. Rani is spontaneous and both in light and serious moments she excels. Manisha Koirala is impressive. Sayaji Shinde looks repeated in the negative role. Satish Kaushik as a villain is good and so is Saurabh Shukla.

The film has nothing to boast about. In the box-office it will be a disappointing affair.