Surjo Movie Review : A slow but sweet romance

Loosely adapted from the 2015 Dulquer Salman starrer Charlie, director Shieladitya Moulik’s Surjo follows the story of a young girl Uma (Madhumita Sarcar), whose childhood friend Abhik (Atmadeep Ghosh) proposes marriage to her. But she doesn’t love him and runs off to a village to avoid the marriage. There, she gets a job as a photographer, and a hearse driver (Sridip Mukhopadhyay) gives her a room to stay in. In the room, she finds belongings of the previous resident, Surjo (Vikram Chatterjee), including beautiful paintings of the locals, and an unfinished comic book. This intrigues her and she decides to find out more. This forms the crux of the rest of the story.
Adaptations often have the tendency to depend too much on the original. But Shielditya’s script has been modified well to suit Bengali sensibilities. From Durga Puja to beautifully shot green locales, the film follows Uma’s journey at a leisurely pace, which makes the first half a bit slow. Ayan Sil’s cinematography is well-supported by well-placed action sequences that up the story’s pace. The editing, however, could have been a lot tighter.
The dialogues are well-written, though a bit predictable and repetitive, as the film approaches the end. The music suits the film’s mood, with Silajit Majumdar’s fun and catchy number, Kire tui kemon achish bol, may remind one of the Bhediya song Baki sab theek in its essence. The use of Rabindra Sangeet has also been done tastefully.
Perhaps the weakest link is the character of Uma, who, at first, comes across as reckless and irresponsible, and it doesn’t help that her dialogue delivery is often wooden, especially in contrast to the rest of the cast. On the other hand, Vikram Chatterjee as Surjo is a strong performer, right from action to dance. He also is a bit of a do-gooder and has a god-like persona that’s reflected in the course of the story. Darshana Banik as Diya draws far more attention and sympathy in the few scenes she occupies and has a great screen presence.
The climax is well drawn out, connecting it with the rest of the story. Overall, Surjo is a sweet, slow romance that deserves a watch.