Bangali Babu reels in Tolly crowds

tollywood is back with a bang. and it took a dhoti-draped middle-aged mithun chakraborty to prove the pundits wrongs. bengali commercial cinema can still pull in the crowds, without any intellectual pretensions. all that you need is bollywood-style gloss, glamour, a chatpata script and a good cast. the first week of anjan chowdhury’s poila baisakh mega release, bangali babu, had record turnout at all the three halls in the city where the film has released.“till now, it’s been house full all shows,� said the managers of mahua, prachi and darpan cinema. said manoj jhajharia, producer, bangali babu, “we released 25 prints for all the three halls. on wednesday, in particular, we had reports of tickets being sold in the black market. but i can’t exactly quote the collection figures till the first week goes.’’ it all started with the success stories of shet pathorer thala, amar shangi, pratibad, dadathakur and lathi. “bengali film was always being trashed. halls went empty. but now things have changed in our favour. i feel a lot depends on the plot,� said the director who is known as the midas man of tollywood for having revived the industry with shatru. another badshah of bengali commercial cinema, haranath chakrabarty, who has directed big buck hits like jamaibabu jindabad and dadathakur, said, “bengali commercial cinema cannot be rubbished any more. just as there are films for the urban thinking audience, there are out and out commercial films, too, for pure entertainment value. such films have always done well in the suburbs but now they are capturing the imagination of the urban audience.�