Putul Movie Review : A dizzying cluster of social messages

Among the varied, wide range of on-screen characters played by the inimitable Sanjay Mishra, Yusuf Charsi, the hard-smoking Mumbai taxi driver in Irfan Kamal’s 2010 film Thanks Ma is a standout. The sequence in which a group of precocious street urchins teach the ill-tempered taxiwallah a tough lesson nails Kamal’s treatment of a very serious issue: the travails of abandoned children living on our city streets. Kamal addresses a sensitive subject subtly, frequently infusing humour. Yet, his portrayal of the harsh life – on traffic signals, railway platforms, abandoned construction sites, red light districts – is grim. It’s a film that makes you think after it has told its story.
For Putul, debutant director Indira Dhar Mukkherjee chooses the other end of the spectrum – despite the hardships and the sorrow, the end message is positive. Dirt poor Bheli’s (Mumtaz) underprivileged child Putul (Venessa) finally finds a home; Madhurima (Pratyusha), the mother who has lost her child, adopts Putul to feel whole again. Reversing the abandonment theme offers a feelgood version of the denouement; in the end, Putul, the adorable daughter of the streets, celebrates her new life with one large, happy family. With messages.
And this is where the problem lies. While it opens promisingly, as it progresses, Putul feels less like a believable story and increasingly like a cluster of social messages. It seems to offer a commentary on everything from alcoholism to polygamy to coming out of the closet to feminine dynamism, in a dizzying succession of disjointed episodes around Bheli, Putul and Madhurima. The sequences around Bheli and Putul remain touching, the death of baby Raju feels devastating. But the story arc doesn’t delve into these sufficiently to establish an emotional universe the audience can feed into.
Given that the story is one of hope, the overt reliance on melodrama, especially from the two mothers as central characters, often feels incongruous. Done well, melodrama can translate to high art and transcend it. Not any less. Certainly not in abundance. In contrast, Sujan Mukhopadhyay and Koneenica Banerjee hold their ground firmly, with solid turns.
Putul has made noise with its participation at the Cannes Marche du Films (the film market at the iconic festival). Its song Iti Maa, sung by Iman Chakraborty, was included as the only Bengali entry in a long list of 79 film songs for the Academy Awards 2025. Audiences will wait for Dhar Mukherjee’s future projects, hopefully in her vein of unusual subjects. There is promise in there.