Britto

The title of the film "Britto" means "strength" and "powerful". The director of the film - Priyan Chanda has managed to highlight the beauty and culture of Kolkata. The camera department and the creative team have assisted Priyan with it. Britto is a short film that clubs both horror and the romantic genre. The movie captures two different eras in order to build up the narrative effectively. The director Priyan and script- writer Kausani Mitra work together to intertwine both the timelines and makes the end product that keeps the audience engaged with the content of the short film up until the end of it.

The film is based on true events. It revolves around a woman who has an encounter with her past. The turn of events, which follows in the present as a result of her past, forms the basic storyline of the film. The plot also deals with a couple who are busy searching for love. Will they be successful with their romantic endeavor is another subplot the film talks about. The director of the film wants to speak about subjects like aristocratic homicide and extramarital affairs. Britto has a simple screenplay and does not overdramatize the same so that the audience relate to the subject matter. The short film tries to create a mirror image of the various aspects of human nature that makeup the society, so that the viewers could absorb the social message the movie is making efforts to communicate to them. The film does justice with the horror genre to some extent. The production design, background music, lighting and a few jump- scares create the darkness that is necessary for the gothic feel in the horror genre.

The costume, makeup and the jewelry from both the timelines shown in the movie is on point. All the actors featured in the Bengali short film play their characters so beautifully. They are able to bring out the emotional turmoil and fears with so much ease. Even the vengeful spirit in the movie does not come across as a villain. The viewers of the short film try to find out the reason behind such behavior of the character.

The only fault I could find with the short film was that the white font of the subtitle given to the film is not suitable as it merges with the color palette of the film. This makes it difficult to follow the cinematic piece for those who don’t understand Bengali.