R E V I E W – S E R I E S
Tanzina Tabassum Nova
Yet again, Srijit Mukherjee has managed to disappoint fans with his book-to-screen adaptation. This time, his webseries Robindronath Ekhane Kawkhono Khete Aashenni (REKKA), an adaptation of the popular novel by Mohammad Nazim Uddin, fails to satisfy viewers.
The gist of the story (and much more) has already been showed in the trailer. In a small town named Sundarpur, there’s a restaurant with an odd name. The restaurant, named ‘Robindronath Ekhane Kawkhno Khete Ashenni’ (Robindronath has Never Come to Dine Here) is famous for its delicious and uncommon foods. There are also mysteries surrounding the owner of the place, Mushkan Zuberi (played by Azmeri Haque Badhon). Someone named Nirupam Chanda (played by Rahul Bose) comes from Kolkata and asks around about her and her restaurant. The local police informer Ator Ali (played by Anirban Bhattacharya) helps him in this investigation.
To be honest, I can’t find anything positive to say about this series. The execution was so poor at times that you would have thought this was made by a novice director. It didn’t feel like the work of someone with more than 10 years of experience in filmmaking like Srijit Mukherjee. For example, you should not reveal a major plot twist in the trailer or in the beginning of the series, which was done here. This is a thriller we are talking about, damn it!
Mushkan Zuberi is the centre of the story, and the screenplay and the execution miserably fail to do justice to the character. In the novel, she was a mysterious character with a bold personality. She was not certainly the seductive lady that was portrayed in the series.
Ator Ali and Nure Chofa (Nirupam Chanda) had a beautiful chemistry in the novel. This was totally absent in the series.
Azmeri Haque Badhan was terrible as Mushkan. Her expression, dialogue delivery, even her smile—everything felt fake. Also, just because Mushkan was a huge fan of Robindronath, doesn’t mean that she would have to sing his songs at every point. And, dear Lord, the visualisation of the songs — so artificial!
Rahul Bose was not at all convincing in his character. You will just have to see his performance in the scene where he was trying to rescue Ator (not a spoiler, it was shown in the trailer) to judge this.
Anirban Bhattacharya as Ator Ali did comparatively better than the other two. His comic timings were great. His getup was a letdown for me, though. Anjan Dutta was also good in his small yet significant role.
I read the novel years ago, so even with very low expectation, I was disappointed with the series. This story deserved a better portrayal. However, you don’t have to be a fan of the original novel to dislike it. REKKA was sub-par even considered as a standalone series.
I would like to finish with a note to Srijit Mukherjee.
Dear Mr. Mukherjee, you do not have to make a movie/series every other month, you know. We have seen excellent works from you, and we would love to see more of them. Please take your time, and please don’t make another REKKA.
Tanzina Tabassum Nova is a full-time couch-potato, and a part-time reader, writer, translator, and reciter.