Story,editing and direction: Riingo Cast: Indronil Sengupta,Suvra Kundu,Sabyasachi Chakraborty,Rajesh Sharma,Barun Chanda,Shambhu Chakraborty and Rajesh Roy Ekalabya (Indronil Sengupta) is a professional killer. For him,life runs cheap,including his own,vacillating between the press of a trigger and the flash of a gunshot. But he is also emotional,a taboo for any professional killer who kills for money. During a scheduled hit in a pub that goes awry,the crooner Rani (Suvra Dutta) loses her vision,hurt by splinters. He promptly falls in love with her. He bonds with police officer Rudro (Indrajeet) operating from within the other system. He gives away his earnings to an orphanage. He is very close to Dilawar (Sabyasachi Chakraborty) his mentor who introduced him to the underground mafia as a teenager. Is this the story of a young boy forced to become a professional killer? Is it the story of the two parallel systems - the legal one comprising the law and order machinery and the other beyond the purview of the law,which is sometimes even more powerful than the former? The director insists that the film offers a ringside view of the underground world in West Bengal. The first 10 minutes in the opening frames convincingly introduces the audience to the way a new entrant enters into the extra-legal system,the terminology used by men in the trade distinct from the terms used among the Mumbai mafia. But beyond those 10 minutes,System becomes a film about Ekalabyas real face behind the mask of the professional killer. It explores his abrupt romance with the pub singer. More understandable is the rapport between Ekalabya and Rudro and the mutual love between Dilawar and Ekalabya. This perspective makes the story more credible than the gunshots and the flashes of bright light. Filmmaker Riingo,also a master cinematographer,can mesmerise his audience with his flamboyant,sophisticated cinematography and treatment. But he tends to get carried away so much by technique that the content goes beyond his control. The cinematography is fantastic though filled with an overload of silhouetted images,dark shadows alternating with loud flashes of light,highend shooting scenes shot in public spaces,a target reduced to a human bomb and so on. The end result remains ambivalent. Shot almost entirely in sepia,the cinematography is a bold and brilliant statement chosen to fit into the content. Colour offers rare relief in the dance scene inside the pub. Indrajeet is very good as the police officer. Sabyasachi Chakraborty is wonderful as Dilawar. Suvra Kundu is saved by her sudden blindness. Indronil is too transparent and is unconvincing as a professional killer. Everyone within the film knows his real name,knows what he looks like,where he is expected to hit,when and who,violating the routine of contract killers. His six-pack abs and his smashing looks work to his disadvantage. Common knowledge tells us that a professional killer is a faceless and nameless person with a code name known only to people within the system to which he belongs. Even the law-enforcing police rarely know what he looks like or what his name is. RATING: *** Three stars for the cinematography,for the acting of Indrajeet and Sabyasachi and for the music. Post-script: A little bird whispers about how Riingo was strongly inspired byThe Killer (1989) directed by John Woo of Hong Kong. The storylines are almost identical.
