C/O Sir

C/O Sir
Directed by Kaushik Ganguly
Produced by Jaspreet Kaur
Starring See below
Music by Raja Narayan Deb
Cinematography Sirsha Ray
Edited by Bodhaditya Banerjee
Release dates
  • 28 June 2013 (Kolkata)
Country India
Language Bengali

C/O Sir ("Care of Sir") is a 2013 Indian Bengali romantic thriller film directed by Kaushik Ganguly and produced by Jaspreet Kaur.[1] The film tells story of a blind school teacher's life and his struggle to prevent the school being sold.[2][3] The lead character is played by Saswata Chatterjee.[2]

Plot

The film is set in a boys' school in Kurseong.[1] The story revolves around the life of school teacher Jayabrata Ray, played by Saswata Chatterjee, who has gone blind due to a sudden retinal disorder. He must now rely on his sense of hearing. After becoming irritable and helpless due to the situation, how he tries to stop the school being sold and how he tackles the situation himself (as his friends are turning foes) becomes the issue of the story.[4]

Cast

For a blind man, Jayabrata's only weapon to survive is his power of hearing. And it is his constant struggle, his dilemma and his blindness which add extra dimensions to the story. The conflict between the unseen and the reality is what the film focuses on. There is also a romantic angle between Raima Sen and Saswata that the film dwells on. Raima plays a solicitor, assistant to Saswata's childhood friend essayed by Indraneil.

Kaushik Ganguly about the theme of C/O Sir[1]

Production

Director Kaushik Ganguly said in 2012 that he had planned the film "for a very long time".[1] The film was based in part on some of his personal experiences, including eight years when he worked as a school teacher and his observations of friends who are visually challenged.[2] He wrote a script for the film a long time before he started work on it, and he initially offered the role of Jayabrata Ray, the blind school teacher, to Prasenjit Chatterjee. Ultimately, he discarded his original script and started over with a new script and cast.[1][2] He told an interviewer, "I always pen the final draft of my film after having finalized the actors."[1]

Filming of C/O Sir began on 24 September 2012 at Kalimpong in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. Kaushik Ganguly and his crew stayed at the Deolo Tourist Lodge during the shooting which concluded on 1 October. They adjusted a few places for the shooting mainly in the Munsong area. The shooting also took place at Kurseong at Dow Hill School. The school scenes were shot in Dow Hill School and Victoria Boys' School. Ganguly's wife Churni Ganguly was a student of Dow Hill School and Ganguly's father-in-law and Churni Ganguly's father was a teacher of Victoria Boys' School.[3]

Soundtrack

C/O Sir
Soundtrack album to C/O Sir by Raja Narayan Deb
Released 2013
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Length 9:59
Language Bengali
Raja Narayan Deb chronology

Kidnapper (2013) C/O Sir (2013) Ashchorjo Prodip (2013)

The music of C/O Sir was composed by Raja Narayan Deb, and the lyrics were penned by Srijato.[4][5]

Track listing

No. TitleSinger(s) Length
1. "Chere Jaoar Gaan"  Rupankar Bagchi 2:58
2. "Themey Jai"  Arijit Singh 4:03
3. "Sleeping Piller Raat"  Bonnie Chakraborty 2:58
Total length:
9:59

Release and reception

This film was scheduled for release on 28 June 2013.[6] It received middling reviews. Reviewers for The Telegraph and In.com praised the acting and photography but found the story disappointing, particularly in the second half.[7][8] On In.com, Amina Khatoon gave the film an overall rating of 2.5 out of 5. Khatoon said the film would "fall short of expectations" in comparison with the "mammoth success" of Ganguly's previous film, Shabdo.[8] In The Telegraph, Barun Chanda said the film was Ganguly's "most commercial film ... so far" and suggested that it demonstrated the director's "new-found maturity and confidence".[7] In the Times of India, reviewer Jaya Biswas gave it three stars out of five, praising the cinematography and saying the film was "worth a watch", while faulting the plot for a "slacken[ed] pace in second half as the director tries to tie too many loose ends in haste, making the climax predictable" and describing the music as "just about okay".[9]

Awards and Nominations

Zee Bangla Gaurav Samman

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Kaushik Ganguly's tribute to his teachers". The Times of India. 5 September 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Kaushik Ganguly gets ready for C/O SIR with Saswata and Raima". The Telegraph (Calcutta). Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Sir sets date with Kalimpong". The Telegraph (Calcutta). Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Chakraborty, Aditya. "C/O Sir cast participate in a unique panel discussion". Gomolo. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  5. "C/O Sir songs". Webmusic. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  6. "Care of Sir". Aajkal. 3 June. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. 7.0 7.1 Chanda, Barun (5 July 2013). "BARUN CHANDA REVIEWS C/O SIR". The Telegraph. Kolkata.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Khatoon, Amina (5 July 2013). "Bengali review: C/O Sir needed some more care". In.com.
  9. Biswas, Jaya (1 July 2013). "C/o Sir". The Times of India.

External links