Birthday Special: 5 films of Anirban Bhattacharya you shouldn’t miss

Anirban Bhattacharya is like those actors who love to go beyond the conventional. He has a taste for swimming against the tide and is quite happy to juggle his film commitments these days. Anirban’s kitty is right now full with some interesting roles in Srijit Mukherji’s ‘Ek Je Chhilo Raja’ and Aparna Sen’s ‘Ghawre And Bairey Aaj’. Over the past two-three years the versatile actor has enjoyed a purple patch with critically acclaimed films like ‘Eagoler Chokh’, ‘Dhananjay’, ‘Dwitiyo Purush’ and ‘Vinci Da’ along with subsequent awards. Here is a list of 5 Anirban Bhattacharya films you shouldn’t miss.

Anirban started off 2020 right where he left off in 2019 - with yet another stunning performance in Srijit Mukherji’s ‘Dwitiyo Purush’. After playing a passionate journalist in ‘Gumnaami’, Anirban again won hearts with his act as Khoka in Srijit’s thriller. As audiences and critics applauded his act as Khoka, Anirban too is overwhelmed to see the response. “Many have said my look was repulsive in the film and that’s the kind of response I wanted to elicit from the audience. I wanted Khoka to have a fleshy, oily and repulsive look to portray the ugliness, and it clicked very well with the audience. In fact, it did so well that now Khoka has a dedicated Twitter handle and a huge fanbase on social media with, perhaps, the largest number of memes,” the actor had said while speaking the character.

The script of ‘Vinci Da’ has something for every seasoned actor such as Rudranil Ghosh, Ritwick Chakraborty, Anirban Bhattacharya, Sohini Sarkar and Riddhi Sen. Dramatised and engaging – Anirban’s portrayal of Bijoy Poddar, a short-tempered cop investigating the serial killings, is something to look out for. There’s a bit less of realistic portrayals but as the story unfolds, the characters fit well into the narrative. Even memes on his character Bijoy Poddar went viral on social media.

The Srijit Mukherji directorial portrays Anirban as the brother-in-law (Satya Banerjee) of the titular character, the middle prince of Bhawal estate Mahendra Kumar Chowdhury and brother of Mahendra’s wife Chandrabati Devi. When Chandrabati weds Mahendra and comes to Bikrampur, her brother Satya too accompanies her and stays back. He becomes a close friend of the Raja. This is no doubt one of the biggest challenges Anirban faces as the character has so many shades with potentiality of turning out to be his career defining role.

‘Dhananjay’ is no doubt Anirban’s career defining film. Starring Mimi Chakaraborty as the criminal lawyer defending Dhananjay and Anirban playing the titular role, ‘Dhananjay’ is largely based on a convicted with the same name who was hanged on the charges of brutal rape and murder of Hetal Parekh. What stays with us for long is Anirban's riveting performance. He plays the doomed character Dhananjay like a trapped animal with eyes which bleed their plea for compassion throughout the film. Arindam Sil created an intense courtroom drama, perhaps one of the best depictions of court proceedings in recent times; opening up old wounds which even time can’t heal. It aptly recreated the mass hysteria in Kolkata after a watchman Dhananjay allegedly raped and murdered a Gujarati school girl in 1990.

Anirban started as a theatre actor and soon get recognized by renowned filmmakers for his exceptional quality to get into the skin of any character. He did a few brief roles before landing on ‘Eagoler Chokh’ and the suspense thriller made him the next big thing of the Bengali industry. His flawless natural portrayal of a rich entrepreneur Bishan Roy left the audience and critics alike in awe. Despite Saswata Chatterjee stealing the show as Goyenda Shabor, Anirban set the stage for a gripping thriller.