by Hajra Naeem

In a revival of Satyajit Ray’s 1966 hit Nayak, Srijeet Mukherjee’s Autograph gradually delivers its moral message to the audience in small doses, before the metaphoric grand finale. The writing is a collaboration between Nandana Sen and Srijeet Mukherjee which results in a script that is crisp, heartfelt and tackles ineffable love and sorrow with carefully selected words and supple cinematography.

The plot revolves around the occupational journeys of three characters who, by the end of the film, undergo protean-like transformations: Shubhobrata Mitra, a struggling director, his live-in girlfriend Srin, a theatrical starlet, and Arun the reigning star of Bengali cinema. When Arun takes Shubh’s script and offers to produce it for him and star as the leading protagonist, Shubh begins to experience cinematic acclaim as the script starts to develop into a film.

The plot only thickens as Shubh suggests that Srin play the role of the heroine in the production. Although the trio appears to form the perfect love triangle, Mukherjee steers away from clichéd concoctions and takes his audience in refreshing new directions. Mukherjee’s vision is well thought out and concise; he has the ability to get inside your head.

The character ensemble plays its roles well. Prosenjit as Arun acts as someone who is able to hide emotional turmoil behind a mask of cool. Although the relationship and the physical intimacy between Nandana Sen (Srin) and Indraneil Sengupta (Shubh) seems forced at times, we later learn the awkwardness between them might be more due to the possibility that Mukherkjee is urging his audience to trust their gut instincts.

The film ends with a visual trope that acts as the perfect consolation to a film that leaves the audience uncomfortable about relationships which have reached the saturation point of comfort, allowing for the audience to make an inevitably introspective journey home.

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