Director Swapan Ghoshal must have had a TV serial in mind while making the two-and-a-half-hour-long Bonobhumi, based on Bimal Kar’s novel.

The story traces the lives of five couples — Monami-Rudranil, Rimjhim-Santu, Locket-Ashish, Bidipta-Chandan and Indrani-Rajesh — living in a remote village. The film is about love, remorse and the rupture of relationships. But like a TV serial, it’s broken up into episodes. At every pause, you feel something will happen. Sadly, nothing really happens.

Indrani hates men but develops a soft corner for Rajesh and Ashish. Monami worships Lord Krishna and deserts her husband as she detests physical proximity with him.

Locket and Ashish are an estranged couple. Bidipta’s husband Chandan works in a coal mine and dies in an accident. Rimjhim decides to leave her impotent husband, who’s double her age, but doesn’t.

The film doesn’t move. The characters don’t grow. Rana Dasgupta’s cinematography is dreary. The performance by TV actors like Rimjhim and Monami is a silver lining. Indrani is very real, and so is Ashish (but he does need to brush up his Bengali).