Assamese film Deuka-The Wings (2024), directed by Jinny Mahalia Joshi, is as uninspiring in its content as the film’s name suggests. It tells the story of Abhimanyu (Debojit Bhattacharya), who loves dance and wants to pursue a career in it, but is pressured to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the family business. Although he has a compassionate mother, his father appears strict. To delay this process, he enrolls in college and joins a course he has no intention of completing. However, life is only fun until he meets Prerona, a blind girl with exceptional musical talent. Together, they dream of winning a dance competition.
Deuka-The Wings suffers from the same problem that filmmakers in Assam suffer from – the lack of fresh concepts and creativity. When a concept seems new, it quickly becomes apparent that similar ideas have been executed better elsewhere, leaving us feeling belated. Or, sometimes, the filmmakers simply draw too much inspiration from existing sources. Deuka-The Wings contains elements of Pradeep Sarkar’s Lafangey Parindey (2010), where boxer Neil Nitin Mukesh and blind girl Deepika Padukone team up for a skating competition.
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In Deuka-The Wings, Richa Chetry (known for the TV series Beharbari Outpost) plays Prerona, a blind girl who moves to the city to live with her sister. She enrolls in the same college as Abhimanyu and they meet. Abhimanyu, inspired by her musical talent, makes it his mission to teach her dance and participate in the upcoming competition. She is music, and he is dance—a seemingly perfect combination. Notably, the film avoids constructing the character with a disability solely for the purpose of eliciting sympathy. Prerona’s personal challenges and adjustments to college life are depicted, but the portrayal avoids a sentimentally battered and watered-down approach.
Predictably, Abhimanyu and Prerona soon fall in love, and the other generic elements of a love story unfold, including songs, dance, and a fight sequence at the end. Yes, there is a villain in the plot who seeks revenge and wants to prevent Abhimanyu’s success and Prerona’s victory. More on that later. Abhimanyu fights for his love and his dream, adamant that he will not join his father’s office. If you’ve seen enough films of this kind, you can likely guess who plays Abhimanyu’s father: actor Rupam Barua, who by now should be declared “Father of the Year” for the sheer number of similar roles he has played.
Visually, Deuka-The Wings feels like an attempt to create a Student of the Year (2012) on the budget of Gangs of Wasseypur (2012). It tries to mimic the student behavior, glamour, setting, and environment of a Karan Johar film. However, due to budgetary constraints, these attempts at recreation appear pathetically cheap. The Tridip Lahon-directed Bandhu (2022), starring Nayan Nilim, suffered a similar fate. The students do not look affluent, and the filmmaking lacks sophisticated scene design. The actors try to project wealth and coolness, but they fail to create the necessary aura because they are forced into a film that doesn’t support it.
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Moreover, the film’s frames appear bland, possibly due to a lack of depth or insufficient crowd in the compositions. Additionally, college life has changed significantly in recent years. The writers of Deuka-The Wings—Arunjit Borah, Jinny Mahalia, and Rajdweep—are clearly out of touch with contemporary college life and rely on outdated ideas. The concept of a gang leader with sidekicks who laugh at every joke is no longer relevant. These days, students don’t waste time bunking classes, bullying others, or making pointless jokes. Abhimanyu is portrayed as such a leader in the movie.
The film also employs body-shaming as a form of humor. The writers and filmmakers seem unaware that it is the 2020s. Furthermore, Prerona’s sister’s shady boyfriend, who appears troublesome from the outset, lives up to expectations. He attempts to assault Prerona. After his girlfriend discovers his actions, she ends their relationship—the perfect villain origin story. He is the one who rigs the dance competition against Prerona and Abhimanyu.
Produced by Dr. Sanjive Narain, it’s difficult to understand his motivations or methods, but there is a clear divide between “haves” and “have-nots” in filmmaking. A similar dichotomy exists between finance and creativity. Filmmakers with creative ideas struggle to find funding, while those with funding churn out mediocre products. What could have been a good character study of two individuals overcoming their shortcomings by inspiring each other is bogged down by a tired formula. The poor treatment of existing themes and conventional handling of subjects make Deuka-The Wings a film best forgotten.
Richa Chetry tries to bring innocence to her role, but the overall impact of a visually impaired character is lacking. There are occasional moments of honesty in her performance, but the melancholia and gravity of her situation are missing. The problem lies in the writing and direction, which underplay this aspect, preventing the audience from truly connecting with her character. Debojit Bhattacharya is tall, good-looking, and has a physique that suits the role, but there is little else to note about his performance or the other actors.
Released on November 22, 2024, in theatres across Assam, Deuka-The Wings also features filmmaker Arunjit Borah in a cameo. The cast includes Chetana Das, Dinesh Das, Debajit Paul, Barsha Das, Kalpana Kalita, Sheemashree, and Monalisha Sahariya. It was shot by Bitul Das and edited by Rupankar Das. The songs are sung by Papon, Simanta Shekhar, Nahid Afrin, and Priyanka Bharali, with lyrics by Rajdweep.
It’s worth noting that there is a growing interest among Assamese filmmakers in exploring diverse themes, protagonists, and characters. Recent efforts to represent underrepresented communities, queer characters, and issues of mental health and disability mark the beginning of a more inclusive and progressive era for Assamese cinema. However, the quality of these films warrants a separate discussion.