The Storyteller Review: Moving But a Bit Slow

In Hotstar’s The Storyteller, a retiree takes up an unconventional job of narrating stories to an insomniac but finds himself in a quandary when he finds his original stories published without his knowledge under a pen name. What will Tarini Bandyopadhyay do now?

The drama film is based on Satyajit Ray’s short story “Golpo Boliye Tarini Khuro” and has a runtime of 116 minutes.

The Storyteller Review

In this drama film, there’s an underlying longing and sadness that viewers can’t help but feel. Tarini Bandyopadhyay finds himself in a bind when he retires from his job and is in need of something to occupy his mind and time. A curious newspaper ad brings him to Ahmedabad to become a storyteller for a rich Gujarati business that is suffering from insomnia. This becomes the start of a seemingly sweet friendship that initially started on awkward and shaky ground. Of course, life is anything but uncomplicated and Tarini’s weekly visits to a nearby library leave him devastated after finding out a heartbreaking truth.

The Hotstar film The Storyteller is a discussion on plagiarism and brings its points across well. Written by celebrated director Satyajit Ray, the source material is nothing if not fantastic. Thus, everything about this film hinges on bringing the charm of the written word to life on-screen. Paresh Rawal plays Tarini with a frustrated softness that is typical for Bengalis after a certain point (if you know, you know). There’s something very relatable about his performance, so much so that his character showcases a lot of depth and complexity that one won’t be able to find easily. He’s not a completely good or bad person, making him a very real watch you can get behind.

On the other hand, we have Adil Hussain who is equally fantastic as the mysterious and elusive Ratan Garodia, who clearly has more to him than he is letting on. The back and forth between the two principal characters somehow gets thrilling from time to time because the film clearly lets us know that there’s more to this than meets the eye. Thus, you wait for the other shoe to drop in this odd arrangement and will be left unsurprised when it finally does deliver its expected twist.

The film, in spite of its positives, feels rather outstretched and overdone taking painfully long to get to the point. The problem is that it over-explains every little thing and takes away the charm of the mystery and the self-discovery in a curious story like this. For example, we drone on and on about fish and capitalism, two things we Bengalis apparently have a love and hate relationship with respectively. Mentioning it once or twice is amusing and adds context, but when a Bengali’s existence is surrounding eating fish, it gets a little annoying.

Final Thoughts

The Storyteller is a moving watch and contains a lot of emotions. Although viewers who are not fans of slow movies might find themselves skipping ahead sometimes, I think the film gets most of the essence of its source right. The creators have done a good job of bringing the complexities of the story points in such a way that it will leave you moved by the end. However, think a shorter runtime would’ve made for a crisper watch.

Also Read: Devil’s Diner Review: Not the Best But Impactful Nonetheless