A poignant tale of rekindled love

Set in a quaint café in Kolkata with Hemanta Mukherjee's “Koto din pore ele, ektu bosho” roughly translating to 'You've returned after eons, please stay for a while” playing on a radio ‘Int. Café Night’ tells the story of two middle-aged lovers reuniting after 30 years.

The unnamed café owner (Naseeruddin Shah) spots a familiar face at a table in front of his counter. His eyes sparkle as he sits in front of its occupant, a woman (Shernaz Patel) scribbling in a notepad. At first, she struggles to places him. And, when realisation strikes she smiles widely – the scene of few words quickly establishes a reunion of past lovers.

On another table in the café is a young couple who are apparently on their last date. The girl (Sweta Basu Prasad) is moving to London and the boy (Naveen Kasturia) is a helpless lover who is trying to convince her to stay.

The film is unusual in the way it's told. Adhiraj Basu’s parallel narrative style gently establishes that the young couple’s story is actually the older one’s flashback of sorts and takes the movie to the audience’s heart in a simple 12 minutes.

What makes it work is the impeccable attention to detail and simple dialogues, which remind viewers of losing their love in a similar way. Consequently, the big question looms over the movie what happens when life hands you a second chance at love?

There’s an air of youthful passion and sad desperation over the young couple’s table that is in strike contrast to the serenity and maturity at the older one’s; the parallel energies elevating through splendid performances of all four actors coupled with the background score and the environment of the café. Although, there’s a quaint resemblance to Jim Jarmusch’s 2003 drama film ‘Coffee and Cigarettes’, ‘Int. Café Night’ has its originality in its screenplay and narration.

The movie marks the official return of Sweta Prasad on screen and her reunion with Naseeruddin Shah after their stint together in ‘Iqbal’ she does justice to the young girl who weeps her way out from a helpless situation. Of course, it’s the veterans who infuse life into their characters, making them more than a pair of exes who happened to meet.

However, due credit goes to the honesty of the young lovers, who bring out the pain of love at its raw stage. In particular, the conversation between Naseeruddin Shah and Naveen Kasturia, which is the only interaction between the past and the present, is a point of decisiveness in the movie the young boy’s determined plea to his older self brings out the angst of a person who knows they deserve a second chance at love. ‘Int. Café Night’ is a sweet and warm film about love to which everyone will relate and it’s definitely a must watch.

Film Name : Int. Café Night

Cast : Naseeruddin Shah, Shernaz Patel, Naveen Kasturia and Sweta Prasad
Direction : Adhiraj Bose
Genre : Drama
Likes : Screenplay, music and Naseeruddin Shah
Dislikes : Hardly any

By Asra Ghouse