Chupa Chupi: Assamese Rural Thriller Blends Suspense, Social Commentary and Family Entertainment

Whenever the new generation has stepped into the Assamese film industry, which has crossed more than ninety years, the medium has not only become stronger but has also won the trust of the audience.

Recently, we had the good fortune of watching ‘Chupa Chupi’, a full length Assamese feature film by a talented film director of the new generation, Pranab Bharali. It is worth mentioning that prior to this, the director had made a web series of the same name and released it for free on the social networking site YouTube two years ago, which was seen gaining immense popularity. Especially because the web series was built on the core foundation of rural life, presenting the nostalgic moments of childhood in a beautiful, simple and straightforward manner, it managed to receive a widespread response from people of all walks of life. The director wanted to tell the subsequent story from where the web series ended through the medium of a film, and as a result of that, the movie titled ‘Chupa Chupi’ was made.

In a word, an attempt has been made in the film to very skillfully portray various small and big incidents of rural society. How politics brings division to society and how culture binds everyone together with a thread of unity – irrespective of caste, creed or religion – has been beautifully reflected through the movie. On the other hand, it has also been shown through the film that education and awareness are absolutely necessary to escape any superstition and antisocial activities.

It is worth noting that although the title of the movie creates some misconceptions in the minds of some people, the meaning of ‘Chupa Chupi’ is an action done secretly or stealthily which is not told to others or is executed without seeing it.

The acting of every artist in the movie is attractive, particularly, the veteran actor Arun Nath is seen in a powerful negative role in a completely new avatar in this film. Kamal Lochan’s acting proved that he is a powerful star of today’s generation who possesses the proficiency to successfully portray any character. Snigdha Gogoi creates a surprise once again in the character of Urmila Bou. Equally, every actor including Kaushik Bharadwaj, Jit Kalita, Saptarshi Gogoi, Boibhabi Goswami, Kishor Tahbildar, Katha Nandi, and others performed by pouring out their best. A very important character named Dhan Da has been included in the film, who remains shrouded in mystery until the end. Another strong aspect of the film is its music and background score.

Keeping in line with the main story, every song included in the film is melodious to hear. Chandra Kumar Das’s camera work is of quite high quality. The film is produced by Hrishikesh Patgiri and Nripen Das under the banners of Atlas Creation and DJ Entertainment.

However, in the first half before the intermission, the story progresses a bit slowly to introduce the characters, but in the second half, the story is seen gaining a new momentum. It feels as though there was room to shorten some scenes included in the film, and doing so might have reduced the length of the movie a bit. Barring one or two minor flaws, ‘Chupa Chupi’ is an entertaining film that can be thoroughly enjoyed with the entire family. Receiving an unprecedented response from the audience immediately upon its release is certainly good news for the film as well as for the medium. Moreover, the unique promotional activities of the film also added special fuel to this success, stated a press release.

Also Read: Alia Bhatt Wins Hearts with Her Reaction to Controversial Joke on India’s Got Latent