Kolkata: An Italian actor is playing the lead in a Bengali film, for the first time in Tollywood.
Paola Bonacina, well-known Italian actor, model and TV host, is thrilled to take centre stage in a Bengali-Italian dual language feature film ‘Grasaan/ Grief of the Sun’. Being produced in collaboration with Italian actor/director Roger A Fratter, the film is directed by Sudeep Ranjan Sarkar. The working title of the Italian version is ‘L’oscurita del Dio Sole’.
Paola, had a wonderful time shooting across various city locations at Dhapa and in north Kolkata for over a week last month, finding the city to be warm and welcoming. “The people here are so loving and kind-hearted. I felt very much at home here,” said the actor who is from Milan.
“Thankfully I didn’t have much of a language problem as I am speaking in Italian in the film. Bengali is such a sweet language just like the people here. I did pick up a few Bengali words here and there though,” she smiled
Paola plays an Italian girl who comes to Kolkata in search of her late mother’s ex-boyfriend and ends up falling in love with him. What follows is a voyage of self-discovery as she explores her equation with her new love, with herself, and with the City of Joy. Others in the star cast include Sudeep Ranjan Sarkar, Rita Jhawar, Debashree Naru and Subhasree Ghosh
Paola is known for her performances in the Italian films ‘Mery Coltrane-La Seducttrice Mortale’ and ‘Ruderi d’amore’. She also attended the premiere of ‘Autumn Narcissus’ her latest short feature directed by Fratter, at the ninth edition of the NEZ International Film Festival which was held last weekend in the city at the ICCR.
The multi-faceted Sudeep Ranjan Sarkar who is also the founder of NEZ said, “We promote independent cinema from across the world. Our festival is very popular with European film-makers.”
Sarkar is eyeing a year-end release for ‘Grasaan’ in India, Italy and the US. He plans to take the film to all the leading festivals.
Sarkar is also expanding the NEZ festival with editions in the US, Italy, and Bulgaria. He is also launching the NEZ Magic Lantern Film Festival and the OTT platform Magic Room which promises a wide range of content for viewers.
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