Jamalaye Jibonto Bhanu is a lively slapstick comedy with its underlying cynicism of earth and heaven

At one time during the golden era of the Tollywood film industry, Bhanu Banerjee, the erstwhile comedy king, provided light relief from the more serious situations and tickled the funny bones of senior members of the audience in those days.

- ANIT MUKERJEA

His very presence, his body language and funny facial expressions sent ripples of laughter. To blend old wine in new bottles, new-age director Dr Krishnendu Chatterjee, keeping Bhanu in mind, has crafted his latest venture: Jamalaye Jibonto Bhanu, which moves between illusion and ground realities, saw the premiere of the film screened on Thursday, 14 November, in Kolkata.

Probably, the earlier black-and-white film with Bhanu in the main lead in Jamalaye Jibonto Manush may have triggered the filmmaker's inspiration to pen the story, screenplay and witty dialogues, bringing it alive on screen. The rather showy, razzle-dazzle new version backed by digital technology appears to have stolen a march over the earlier version by way of more sophisticated mounting. Of course, Chatterjee manages to give the new version a different twist in the story line, especially devised to entertain the younger generation among members of the audience.