How do red light areas in the metros source women? This may sound like a derogatory question, but it is to this question that writer director Blessy tries to find an answer to in his new film Calcutta News.
It is as if he is aware of the overdose of sex rackets involving schoolgirls in Malayalam cinema in the last few years that Blessy changes the location to Kolkata, with the hope of giving the plot a refreshing touch.
It cannot be denied that the City of Joy is beautifully shot by cinematographer P Sukumar -- it feels as if we are taken on the guided tour of the Metro. But is that enough?
The story is about a Malayali television journalist born and brought up in Kolkata, and, how he helps a newly married Malayali lady solve the mystery behind the death of her husband.
Blessy's strength as a filmmaker lies in telling stories with strongly etched characters in the backdrop of the nuclear family. But in an effort to broaden his canvas, he loses focus of his competency. The story claimed to be a combination of a love story and a thriller, stutters from beginning. Sometimes he even uses the crutch of the supernatural and paranormal to clear the entangled web of what we may call a screenplay.
The story is about Ajith Thomas (Dileep), the son of a Malayali who had come to the city to play club football and made it his home. Ajith has adopted the local ways, which is proved through one instance where Ajith claims that his coverage of Durga Puja is the most authentic among all news channels (whatever that means).
Krishnapriya (Meera Jasmine), a naïve (so naïve that she starts humming along when she hears Yesudas singing a Salil Chaudary composition on the transistor in a roadside eatery forgetting the surroundings and even her own miserable state) and nubile female. An orphan, she is lured into marriage by a lecherous youngster, who brings her to the big bad city with ulterior motives.
Harikumar (Indrajith), the dubious character that is found dead at the beginning of the story is the pivot on which rest of the film unravels.
With the main players in place, it was up to the helmsman Blessy to make it interesting for the viewer to be engrossed for nearly two and half hours. But he miserably fails.
The only charm the viewer may have is the location, as it breaks the monotony of watching every Malayalam film shot in the claustrophobic confines of Kochi city, perhaps as a cost cutting measure.
It all begins with the news being flashed on every channel that our hero has won an award for his documentary film Shadows of Calcutta shot entirely on a 3G cell phone (what a phone it is, it does not stop working even after falling hard on the floor. And, we thought only reel life heroes do death-defying stunts unconvincingly!).
Shadows of Calcutta's narrative intermingles the story of Krishnapriya with the visuals of red light area Sonagachi. He captures the atrocious conditions the women are made to live in and fights sword- wielding hooligans and transmits the pictures through his network to awaken the rulers to rescue these women.
This subject would have worked wonders in the hands of someone like Shaji Kailas with a larger-than-life hero backing him. But, in Blessy, it becomes comical as he tries to find a balance between his realistic approach and stereotypical action thriller that requires a Tamil villain, a comedian like Innocent to give comic reprieve in between the heavy duty proceedings etc.
The lead players also can't help Blessy out of the quagmire he finds himself in. Both Dileep and Meera Jasmine sleepwalk through their parts. Dileep's weird hairdo and bespectacled look is unintentionally funny.
It is exhausting at the end finding the loopholes in the story.
One wonders whether it is the same director who made Kaazhacha and Thanmatra.
Rediff Rating: 
