Director: Suman Mukhopadhyay

Made: 2006

Writers: screenplay by Suman Mukhopadhyay based on a novel of the same name by Nabarun Bhattacharya

Genre: Drama/Satire/Dark comedy

Cast:

Subhashis Mukherjee

Joyraj Bhattacharjee

Anindita Mullick

Bimal Chakraborty

Lily Chakraborty

Subroto Nath Mukherjee

Bratya Basu

Sujan Mukherjee

Debshankar Haldar

Senjuti Roy Mukherjee

Nandini Chatterjee

Supriya Dutta

Kanchan Mullick

Chandan Sen

Sabyasachi Chakraborty

An idiosyncratic title character, a pair of ghosts, a Marxist uncle and a naxalite nephew, strange idle friends, and a tragic-comic storyline – Herbert is an unusual and extremely enjoyable example of the new work being produced by the Bengali Parallel Film industry. The strangely named central character – Herbert Sarkar is, at first glance, almost insane, if not a charlatan who cheats people in the name of being able to talk to the dead. It is on closer inspection, as we get to know him and his life better; that we realize that he is not so different from you and me after all. His life till date, illustrated and examined through interestingly created flashbacks, has been a story of trauma and loss. Ignored, reviled, devalued, as he has been all his life, he has grown into a strange man, with strange quirks, who is intensely fascinated by life after death.

Suman Mukherjee, an acclaimed theatre director, makes a creditable debut as a director of film with Herbert. An unsusual fim, in many of the cinematic devices used, Herbert stands out as a cross between psychological drama and a dark tragic-comedy. There are the dead parents, who film his life, and comment on it: there are other characters that can barely be classified as “normal” in the conventional sense of the word, and there is a lot of tomfoolery. The film does have a lot of strong language and profanity, and is probably not for someone who objects to those, or finds them uncomfortable. However, for anyone who likes “hatke” cinema, who enjoys the different and the odd, Herbert is a must watch.

The central character is played brilliantly by Subhashis Mukherjee, a very competent actor who has unfortunately been relegated to the ranks of inferior comic in mainstream Bengali cinema. In short, the film is a pleasure to watch, for anyone who likes cinema to be fresh, experimental, and fun.

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