"Namte Namte" is a tale of degeneration of the common man. Ananda (Rajatava Dutta) is the common man who lives in a rented apartment with wife Seema (Rupa Ganguly) and daughter Dolon, who is barely 17. Ananda lives in total apprehension of his surroundings, his landlord has issued a verbal eviction notice several months ago, the locality is degenerating into a security nightmare because of the local goons, and he doesn't have either the voice or the courage to counter any of these problems. But when you cannot beat them, you join them - hoping that life will get better. So Ananda chooses the easy way out - he buys favors from the local hoodlums and their leader Ganesh Haldar (alias Tota, played by Shahshwat Chatterjee), for some money. He believes that if Tota is on his side, he can buy safety and security for his family.
Ananda isn't wrong, Tota does offer a social security. Suddenly, the landlord changes his stance from malevolence to utter kindness, and Ananda gets the political stamp on the allotment of a government apartment for shifting to a new locality with Tota's help. Things start looking up for the common man amid all the turmoil and Ananda feels protected. Little does he know that the favours he is buying in small steps come with an astronomical price tag eventually, and to endure that he will have to melt into the abyss, and perhaps lose everything he holds close to his heart.
Namte Namte is downright disturbing and thought provoking a film, centering on matters close to anarchy and the associated social fear that the common man has to endure. Conceptually strong, executed well and without spreading the net too wide, director Rana Basu keeps matters focused on the effects of the social impact of local anarchy on one particular family and goes the whole nine yards. Debatably, the story about Ananda's completely spineless and submissive character due to his social anxiety disorder may seem exaggerated and if the same is allowed to extrapolate, will result in total anarchy, a situation somewhat unimaginable in today's world. That aside, the trio of Rajatava Dutta, Rupa Ganguly and Shashwata Chatterjee deliver power packed and convincing performances that set the viewers into introspection about our daily compromises and actions.
