Jijibisha Bengali DVD

Jijibisha tells a simple story of how love can overcome all societal pressures and transcend all stereotypes. Problem arises when the film, in itself, fails to do that — transcend stereotypes, we mean.

After the death of his mother, Nilay (Joy Sengupta) returns from New Jersey to take care of his old father (Soumitra Chatterjee). When his father pushes Niloy to get married, he enters into a contractual marriage with Priyanka (Sreelekha Mitra), who is actually a call girl. But what will Rachana (Sayani Datta), his NRI girlfriend from New Jersey, have to say about this sham marriage? Will she understand his predicament? Will Niloy be able to come clean about it to her and his father?

The film, in its second half, tries hard to untangle a mess of human relationships and emotions it creates in the first half. But, it takes the easy route out and thus, fails. Otherwise, it had all the right ingredients to make for a thought-provoking cathartic experience. In fact, when the film starts off with a unique collage of seemingly unrelated scenes and dialogues playing to Swarnali Sarkar's recitation in the background, it heightens our curiosity as well as expectations. Yes, it's a good-looking film. And the cinematography apart, it's Sreelekha Mitra who takes the credit for that. She nails her character of an escort, who, instead of knowing the consequences, can't help falling for her client, while looking like a million bucks in simple cotton sarees wrapped carelessly around her slightly plump frame.
Joy Sengupta and Soumitra Chatterjee, too, are good in their respective roles. However, Sayani Datta is no match when pitched against power-house actors such as the other three, though she tries really hard.