Set during the COVID period, the film Abhimanyu takes you on a nostalgic ride through the pain and grief of that time, portraying a story that will sway your mind. Directed by Achinta Shankar, Abhimanyu presents a promising plot and an interesting set of performances by the lead actors.
The film depicts the chaos created by the lockdown—how the system, including high-ranking officials, politicians, the government, the police department, doctors, and journalists, failed to show basic human empathy. Through a bizarre incident in the story, these individuals are shown turning into demons. This forms the plot’s core, which questions the system, how we perceive it, and how its stakeholders exploit power to harass common people.
Setting the Stage: Performances That Shine
The film begins on a somber note with the love story of Prabhat (played by Kamal Lochan) and Jyotsna (played by Deeplina Deka), which Shankar has portrayed beautifully. Watching Kamal Lochan and Deeplina Deka together was a delight. Not sure whether the actors themselves or the director deserve more credit for their presentation, but Kamal and Deeplina undoubtedly make the best on-screen pair of 2024. Their chemistry was spot-on and stood out as the film’s highlight. It felt like a privilege to watch them bring to life the essence of cinematic romance. This romantic foundation played a crucial role in evoking empathy for what followed.
The role of Jayanta, played by Debajit Mazumdar, has also been performed decently, keeping the audience terrified by his toughness while wowing them with the pinch of sensibility that the character embodies. He, who came to solve a mystery, carried a sense of mystery himself, making people believe in the character and trust him enough to stay engaged with the narrative.
Similarly, Kamal Lochan, with his versatile way of approaching a character, proves why he is the actor he is. The character, which starts as calm and composed, evolves as the story progresses—a transition well-handled by Shankar and portrayed effectively by Lochan. Lochan doesn’t overdo the role; instead, he keeps it so apt that the audience finds the character entirely believable.
The believability of his performance is further supported by Deeplina’s surprisingly solid portrayal of Jyotsna. Known for her voice, Deeplina certainly makes her mark on the narrative. Both she and Kamal Lochan grabbed the audience’s attention throughout.
Technical Strength
The film is eye-grabbing, perhaps because of its smooth technical aspects, which show the importance and weightage given to its technicalities. Particularly, the shots seem well-planned. The highlight is Pradeep Daimary’s ability to capture the lockdown nostalgia. The precision with which this has been handled and achieved deserves a token of appreciation. The visuals of the Covid period evoke fear, grief, and nostalgia, emotions that are often difficult to convey effectively. The background score also aptly complements the visuals. There isn’t a moment in the film when the background score feels out of sync with what we see on the screen. This reflects the clarity in planning and execution from both the director and the film’s crew.
Where the Film Falls Short
I remember watching Maharaja (2024) on Netflix a while ago and being wowed by how precisely and smoothly the narrative was presented in a non-linear manner. It worked extensively well, with the suspense behind the non-linear storytelling sustained throughout. However, in this film Abhimanyu, while I wouldn’t say the non-linear narrative was unnecessary, its treatment could have been better. Unlike Maharaja (2024), the approach here felt more like an attempt to create confusion that ultimately led nowhere. It felt forced and, at times, made it difficult for the average viewer to keep track of the plot.
The reason I think the non-linear narrative didn’t work is that the film lacked depth in character development. Apart from the primary characters, the presence of other characters felt unjustified. They seemed to appear and join Prabhat’s mission without much context. The audience might assume that, since the narrative is non-linear, these characters would be explored further later in the story, but, unfortunately, they were not given enough importance.
For instance, Hiranya Deka’s character is introduced with a backstory, but the writer-director doesn’t bother to show the audience how he met Prabhat and became involved in his mission. Similarly, the guy with the ambulance and his friend appear abruptly alongside Prabhat and merely explaining that they are friends isn’t enough to justify not showing their character arcs or relationships.
Until the end, I kept thinking that the non-linear narrative might eventually link these characters in some way, but it didn’t. This left me even more confused about the film’s treatment. The focus on the primary characters is so intense that it seems the writer-director forgot to dedicate time to the secondary characters. As a result, it became difficult to believe the story, where these secondary characters, without any motive, fear, or hesitation, completely supported Prabhat in his mission.
Apart from the characters, what disappointed me was how humour was incorporated into the story. Some of the humour was decent and resonated well with the audience, but certain instances felt unnecessary and lowered the standard set by the film’s technical aspects. For instance, in a scene where Jayanta searches for a pen and describes it with phrases carrying double meanings, the humour felt so forced that I wondered how Shankar could assign such a scene to Jayanta—a character whose arc was otherwise quite decent and strong. It made me question whether the writer-director thought twice before including that scene in the film.
Contradictions in Handling Sensitive Themes
There has been a huge debate about the portrayal of item songs in films, a trend that began in Hindi cinema and spread across the country. Until the 2010s, Assam was largely absent from this trend, but with the new generation of filmmakers, item songs have become more common. The point here is not to moralize, and I don’t wish to delve into the debate about whether they are right or wrong. However, my concern lies with the intention behind these item songs.
While the film, Abhimanyu, attempts to make a comment on rape, it includes an item song that focuses specifically on the woman’s sexualized body. The shots are framed to highlight those parts, which, in my view, is sheer hypocrisy on the part of the filmmaker. The intention behind such a song seems to be to sexualize the woman, while at the same time, the film talks about justice for a woman who has been raped. How can anyone take the director seriously or view his thoughts as clear when such contradictory elements are presented?
Along with that, there’s another concern: the film needed more attention to detail. I don’t understand why male filmmakers seem obsessed with depicting rape so explicitly on screen. I mentioned this in my review of Joy Hanuman as well. These are very sensitive topics that require extra care in their portrayal. You don’t need to show the act of rape in detail; simply mentioning it and moving the story forward would be enough. For many women watching the film, it could be triggering. It’s high time we stop showing explicit sexual assault scenes and instead indicate the issue and move on.
Connecting the Dots
Abhimanyu is, in its way, a good watch at the cinema hall. The grandness of the film, the directorial preciseness, and the stylistic approach are new yet similar to recent releases from September and October, Sikaar and Joy Hanuman, respectively. All three deal with similar themes, as if they are part of a shared genre set in different locations of Assam. It is concerning that it might make the audience irk at seeing similar stories released in such a short span. Yet, one cannot dismiss any of these films, as the approach taken by the directors is quite different from one another.
For all its flaws, Abhimanyu still manages to entertain and leave a lasting impact. It stands out for its ambitious storytelling and technical finesse.