Professor Shanku O El Dorado (2019) User Reviews (20)

3 stars being 1st movie. Review from Very Ordinary Man (mukkhu shukkhu Manish) Man

[angshumanjob · 4/10 · 24 February 2020]

Hope the Producer and team reads this.

I'm a nobody, I don't know camera angle direction or post production, acting I know and knew ;) and read few shonku stories, read more after the movie. I'm more a business man.

No emotions pls....

My take is: opportunities lost....

1. Showing Shonku in current generation was not required Robu lost, Abhiram lost all lost... We could have easily showed this character in past like Van Heilsing :) or the Irish Man :D

2. This should not have been first movie, we lost byom jatrir dyari... You will make it up .... but was not needed; the budget for São Paulo would have covered the vfx for byomjatri

3. In the screen play we skipped Sahnku's address to public? First international address ... Very amateurish....

.... It's a disaster .... I can't right more ... We already lost a fortune by now....

If you are an artist

No Character Bulid up... Mechanical... Too many things at the end....

Sorry... 1 Star + 3 Star being the first attempt 👎

Perhaps somewhat jaded and obsolete a concept for the modern science and technology

[msunando · 4/10 · 23 December 2019]

Professor Shonku O El Dorado - Based on the original story "Nakur Babu O El Dorado" by Satyajit Ray that featured in Anandamela in 1980, this film doesn't waste any time and gets into the action quite hurriedly. The storyline is almost 4 decades old, but its backdrop is modern (2019, thus giving the adventure a feel of obsolescence, in spite of a glossy presentation. The science fiction that's forty years old fails to create the intended astonishment among the audience as over the last couple of decades, viewers have been exposed to humongous development of science and technology, and western films have created a deep impact already. Now with Netflix and Amazon Prime in our living rooms, Professor Shonku appears jaded, tired and grossly outdated. I am not so certain even if children will be thrilled with this presentation. Nevertheless, Dhritiman Chatterjee is sophisticated and suave, albeit lacking the energy to pull through the film for his own intrinsic value.

Boring Screenplay

[priyadarshi-c · 5/10 · 14 January 2020]

While the storyline is quite good, the presentation lacks the zing required for a modern Cinema experience largely. Visuals of the Brazil landscape are the main attraction, but has been underplayed.

Anaconda scene, ElDorado scenes could have been longer and more spectacular.

Dialogues delivery is much too slow, deliberate and uninteresting across the board.

Unnecessary scenes are too lengthy. Hotel scenes should have been a minimum, while adventure in Amazon Forest, ElDorado should have been emphasized.

Does the director really have to spend so much time on characters introducing themselves to each other, painfully slowly. Who does that in real life ?!

Poor script and direction

[rajamukherjea · 3/10 · 28 December 2019]

Unbelievable poor script and story dampens the enthusiasm of a Shonku fan. The movie looks like a documentary and less of a movie. The adventure movie doesnt build up pace even midway and fails to keep the audience interested.

Professor Shanku experiment fails to amaze

[Pabitrabadhuk · 7/10 · 22 December 2019]

I want to start the review by appreciating Sandip Ray and team for venturing into the audacious task of bringing Professor Shanku from pages into the screen. The biggest challenge in filming Shanku is the necessity for advanced graphics and exotic location shoot. While camera work in the streets of Sao Paolo and bird's eye views of the amazon rain forest catches attention, the VFX team has done a mediocre job at best. Acting through out the film has been reasonably good from the Indian actors. Dhritiman as Professor Shanku seems unnecessarily annoyed at times but overall has portrayed the character well. Subhashis Chakraborty fits in the role of Nakur babu perfectly too. However, the foreign actors in the roles of Dr. Sauders and Krol are too expressive, even tiring at times. The use of music in the film is commendable, enhances the cinematic experience. Sandip Ray has not veered far off from the Satyajit Ray school of music, the tunes in the movie sometimes reminded me of the Feluda theme. However, the main issue with the movie to me is it fails to hold your attention. There is no build-up of suspense, no sequence for provoking thought in the audience; It's more like a grand Brazilian travelogue. I would like to see more audience engagements in the upcoming Shanku ventures.

Boring and Jagged screenplay

[chowdhurytuhin · 5/10 · 3 April 2020]

My review is purely based on my perspective as an audience. I do read good stories as well. 1. This character of Shoku by Satyajit Ray has a nostalgic value for most of Bengali children of the 80s and 90s. Portraying him with mobile phones and laptops doesn't really strike the right cord. 2. Using VfX should be logical and shouldn't be used unnecessarily. Like there is a scene where Shonku dials or saves number from a holographic gadget. Why? If you have more convenient mobile phone. The teleconference by a holographic projector seemed unconvincing. It would have been better if all the guys were sitting as normal instead of floating over the table. Eg. In Avenger movies. 3. The screenplay was so boring that I had to fast forward a lot. The scenes of people travelling were... of only them travelling and driving, nothing else. 4. The story should have taken place in the 80s. 5. The acting all around was mediocre. Seemed like the casting director had hired some foreign tourists with elementary acting skills. 6. Only good part is the effort put in and indeed the professionals behind the camera have worked hard but the whole thing fell apart due to poor conceptualizing and screenplay.

Average

[gainbaban · 6/10 · 18 November 2020]

First 45 min is boring as hell. I think holographic conversation, finding diary, Suitcase of Biswas these were overstretched and unnecessary.

It is somewhat good after that.

Disgusted!

[SoumikBanerjee1996 · 2/10 · 14 March 2020]

Professor Shanku has always been one of the fascinating characters in Bengali Literature. So the usual excitement was generally there when this film got announced. Even after watching the trailer; I kept my hope. Too bad, that didn't turn out fruitful! Very sluggishly written plot, with performances and not much sense in the story made me cringe the entire run time. I was just thinking, how bad this film could gradually be! I could have easily overlooked the technical deficiencies had the story been satisfying! But I couldn't fathom the stupidity it holds. I was just so surprised at the fact that the makers have so badly exploited the opportunity of bringing the nostalgic element to a Shanku Movie. And what can I say about the 'Acting'; or should I use the prefix 'Over' before it! The amount of cringe was overwhelming. As an Avid reader of Shanku Series written by the Great Satyajit Ray; I am thoroughly disgusted on this movie representation. Not at all recommended.

Pathetic, Boring, slow... Please don't make sequel

[Joy-Sinha · 2/10 · 24 July 2020]

Here is the universal truth that Sandip Ray can only forward the legacy created by his father but cannot create by its own. He has made atleast watchable Feluda movies and series with the help of Same background music, same characterization, same screenplay style created by Genius Satyajit Ray. Now in case of Professor Shonku, it debuts on the big screen holding hand of Sandip ray and sadly but expectedly Sandip ray let Professor Shonky down miserably.

Very good effort

[majumdarananda · 8/10 · 22 March 2020]

This was a tough one takes guts for a regional director to take the risk. Good acting clean direction with some flaws. Being a Shonku fan I am happy

Mildly entertaining but pointless entertainment

[Snootz · 5/10 · 27 March 2022]

India film about a brilliant inventor who visits Brazil and deals with an unscrupulous man. Slow-moving and without much purpose but story-telling entertainment. A couple of decent plot twists, and that's about it for anything notable.

The actors play their parts well enough. I found the characters interesting in the portrayal, but not in development. They aren't exactly 2D characters, but not much fleshed out either. Still, the acting is likely the most interesting thing in this film. (The scenery is nice in places, as would be expected. Just not much of it.)

This is basic story-telling, and rather slow-moving at that. The focus is on inter-character conversation rather than anything else. It can't be called "action-adventure" because (with the exception of one short scene involving flying arrows), there's simply not much action. As for adventure, the show never actually reaches a climax, and in the ending the movie just sort of ends (thud. Credits roll). So not much adventure to speak of.

So it's okay for spending an hour and a half on a rainy afternoon when you're bored silly... but not much value beyond that. It's not the worst movie ever made, nor does it by any means warrant 10 stars. It's just a mediocre piece of filmery (had to coin a word to describe it)... and not much more.

Don't see it. Save your time.

[p-pialpaul · 4/10 · 1 May 2020]

The whole movie is just a joke. No character build up. Funny actings all over.

The Ruins of Sandip Ray

[rifatuls · 2/10 · 9 November 2023]

Professor Shonku & El Dorado, a cinematic venture within the legacy of Sir Satyajit Ray, showcases the brilliance of Professor Shonku's adventures. While the essence of Ray's creation is evident, some viewers express concerns about the directorial approach of his son. Despite the rich source material, there is a sentiment that the newer adaptations, including Feluda, may not fully capture the greatness of the original works. The film, however, remains an engaging exploration into Shonku's world, offering a blend of curiosity and critique.

It's disheartening that the director, despite the treasure trove of his father's work, continues to helm projects and, according to some viewers, falls short of doing justice to the legacy. There's a sentiment that entrusting the work to someone else might have preserved the essence better, as repeated attempts are perceived as potential spoilers rather than enhancements to the beloved Professor Shonku series.

Balanced movie.

[indranil-dasgupta69 · 10/10 · 12 February 2020]

A very well made movie with no unnecessary gimiks.VFX was pretty good as per Indian standards.Made my daughter to read Shonku books despite previous failed attempts to make her inclined towards them.Now she is digging the books herself...Thanks to Mr.Sandip Ray.

what a movie....

[megastarsubhra · 8/10 · 10 January 2020]

This film brings a new chapter for bengali movie...we all know the story. And its execution in this picture was very good.go and watch.

A Must Watch Movie

[sabyasachi-unique · 10/10 · 26 December 2019]

Sandip Ray did his career best work. The movie script was updated with futuristic technologies and all the artists did the great job! Hats off to SVF for bringing Shanku in motion picture format.

A Proper Shanku after a long time which had frustrated me with slapstick versions of shanku on stage productions

[ghoshuttaran · 10/10 · 31 December 2019]

Watched the entire movie twice. This is the same review I had submitted in bookmyshow. The character depths of Shonku, Nokur, Saunders, Krol, all have been brought out in an excellent manner. Dhritiman and Subhashis deserve special mention... The play of emotions on Subhashis' face when he reports Shanku about the scanning of his papers at night was brilliant... VFX was far far better than Obhijaan... Dhritiman was finally the proper Shanku I was waiting after watching disappointing stage adaptations of the first few shanku stories which portrayed a comicl eccentric Shanku. Would request Mr. Sandip Ray to think of making sequels with some of the other Shanku Stories... better still if they are "Prof. Rhondy's Time Machine" or "Prof. Shanku o U.F. O.", because then we'll get to see Nakur Chandra Biswas again... and Kudos to SVF for making it possible to bring it alive on screen.

Must Watch

[athoynilima · 10/10 · 20 March 2020]

Loved it! Sandeep Roy made proper justice to the novel.

Very good

[pranab41-555-502759 · 10/10 · 14 February 2020]

Authentic illustration of a fantastic story. May miss in formula but one may consider the special effects and superior acting that more than compensated. A virtual tour of Sao Paulo, Brasilia, and Amazon.

Whole family loved it!!

[abhijitnandy · 9/10 · 22 June 2020]

Most of the reviewers seem to have already heard of Professor Shanku in some capacity or the other.

We didn't.

We - myself, my wife and my seven year old son - sat enthralled through the entire movie. We loved the fact that it wasn't a film set too far in the past. My son rarely sits quiet at a movie theater, but in this movie, he sat past the credits and kept talking about all the amazing things shown and the different scenes well after the movie got over.

I recalled reading some Satyajit Ray books I had read as a child and recall the magic I felt reading them when I was young. Those books made me feel that the whole world had so much of magic, so much of wonder, and how there were great people amongst us and how the scientists and inventors of the entire world were a group trying to imagine the impossible and make it real.

All those feelings and memories came back when I watched the movie.

As I said, our whole family enjoyed it and kept talking about bits of the movies for days after.

Thank you to everyone who showed us the magic of Satyajit Ray's story-telling.