From Ritwick Chakraborty to Nusrat Jahan: Bengali celebs who made headlines this week

Whether it’s the first-look poster of ‘Professor Shonku O El Dorado’, rumours of Ritwick’s Bollywood debut, Nusrat being dragged into another controversy, Parambrata’s next Byomkesh film or Adil Hussain being roped in for a political thriller; it was a week full of rumors and exciting news from the Tollywood industry. Here is a quick look at Bengali cinema's some of the most exciting news from this week.

It’s a Durga Puja surprise from the makers. The first look of much-awaited ‘Professor Shonku O El Dorado’ will surely make every die-hard fan of Professor Shonku excited. Directed by Sandip Ray, the sci-fi-adventure drama is based on Satyajit Ray's popular story ‘Nakur Babu O El Dorado’. It will also mark the beginning of a new franchise of Professor Shonku on the silver screen. Bankrolled by SVF, the sci-fi thriller is eyeing for a December release. The much-anticipated film has made headlines ever since it was announced. While veteran actor Dhritiman Chatterjee will play the titular role of Professor Shonku, Subhashish Mukhopadhyay will be seen as Nokurbabu. In fact you can see a glimpse of Dhritiman as Shonku in the poster.

Based on Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay’s story ‘Mognomainak’, Sayantan Ghosal directed ‘Satyanweshi Byomkesh’ offered a different take on Byomkesh from earlier adaptations. While in most of the previous Byomkesh films crime had found its way into family relationships and vengeance, ‘Satyanweshi Byomkesh’ highlights the political aspect of a murder mystery. And now, after all those appreciations and critical acclaims, Sayantan Ghosal’s next Byomkesh film has been announced and it will be based on Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay’s another epic story ‘Durgo Rahashya’. The makers have already dropped the first-look poster from the film and it surely doubles excitement among the Byomkesh fans. The poster features Parambrata as the charismatic detective while Rudranil Ghosh is once again ready to essay Ajit.

Srijit Mukherji’s much talked about thriller ‘Gumnaami’ had its pre-Puja release on October 2 and since then has received an overwhelming response from the audience. The film, produced by SVF, is based on the famous Mukherjee Commission hearings where the three theories about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s alleged death were debated. And now, the thriller is set to release in Hindi on October 18. ‘Gumnaami’ follows the myth surrounding Gumnaami Baba, an ascetic from Uttar Pradesh who was often rumoured to be Netaji in disguise. Starring Prosenjit Chatterjee in the titular role, the film sees Anirban Bhattacharya playing a print journalist Chandrachur Dhar and Tnusree Chakraborty as his wife.

This year Koel will be seen playing so many different characters and she is loving it. “After ‘Sesh Theke Shuru’ and ‘Mitin Mashi’, I will be in ‘Rawkto Rohoshyo’ where I play a very trusting and simple radio jockey who falls into a deep trap due to her trusting nature. Then there’s ‘Sagardwipey Jawker Dhan’, which is a happy, nice and bright treasure hunt movie for school kids, and ‘Bonny’, based on Shirshendu Mukherjee’s story about a couple living abroad, who are taken aback by unexpected incidents. In my 17-year-long career, I’ve always wanted to do interesting films and it’s great to see that such films are finally being made, thanks to the audience, who has become receptive to new ideas, content and on-screen experiments,” said the pretty actress when asked about her upcoming films.

‘Ek Je Chhilo Raja’ and ‘Jyeshthoputro’ - two of last year’s Bengali blockbusters have been elected for Indian Panorama section at the 50th International Film Festival of India, Goa. While ‘Ek Je Chhilo Raja’ was directed by Srijit Mukherji, Kaushik Ganguly donned the director’s hat for ‘Jyeshthoputro’. Interestingly, this is Kaushik Ganguly’s tenth consecutive Indian Panorama selection at the IFFI, Goa. In the non-feature film category, 'Bouma' a short film directed by Debatma Mondal has also made the cut to the IFFI.

Diya Ghosh, daughter of acclaimed filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh, is set to make his directorial debut in Bollywood with a thriller on Bob Biswas, the iconic contract killer character from ‘Kahaani’. Immortalised on-screen by none other than Saswata Chatterjee, Bob Biswas, a contract killer, remains the most spine chilling character from ‘Kahaani’ starring Vidya Balan. According to industry sources, Diya's debut film will definitely star Saswata Chatterjee besides none other than Ritwick Chakraborty and will be shot in and around Kolkata in 21 days. The shooting for will commence from November.

Relax a bit! That’s how Nusrat Jahan hit back at the Muslim cleric who kick-started a social media storm criticizing the TMC Lok Sabha member for celebrating Durga puja. The Muslim cleric had earlier criticized the Tollywood actress for participating in Hindu rituals saying she will have to change her name and religion as she is now defaming Islam and Muslims by her actions. In response, Nusrat Jahan calmly said that the cleric has no right to ask her to change her name and it’s not about religion but it’s all about celebration. "Those who have not given me my name...do not have any right to ask me to change it. This is not a matter of Hindu or Muslim...My message to clerics...relax a bit...happy puja," Nusrat reacted. She also hit back at the clerics for bringing in a political twist in the matter: "This is a time of celebration...not about politics only."

Bauddhayan Mukherji is ready for his next ‘Marichjhapi’ based on an incident considered to be a dark chapter in the history of Communist rule in West Bengal and acclaimed actor Adil Hussain will be playing one of leads in the film produced by Little Lamb Films, a banner co-owned by Monalisa Mukherji and Bauddhayan Mukherji. Hussain took to his Twitter handle to share the news among his followers. “Eager to start shooting for Bauddhayan’s epic untold, rather Suppressed, story of a darkest betrayal in human history in India,” wrote the actor. ‘Marichjhapi’ is one of the new projects introduced this week at the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Project Market.

When her film ‘Tarikh’ recently won the National Award director Churni Ganguly was a bit aggrieved that it wasn’t allowed to run for more than 5 days at the Kolkata multiplexes. However, despite the harsh treatment, ‘Tarikh’ continues to win international acclaims. It recently won three awards at the Los Angeles Film Awards 2019 in Best Song, Best Editing and Best Narrative Feature categories. And now, another proud moment for Churni Ganguly. ‘Tarikh’ was screened at the 4th BRICS Film Festival held in the city of Niterói, State of Rio de Janeiro and it received a standing ovation from the audience after the screening.

Atanu Ghosh whose films delve deep into the human mind, its nature, variety and complexity in a modern contemporary setting, using a minimalist narrative form is set to offer another masterpiece. Yes, we are talking about ‘Binisutoy’ which sees Ritwick Chakraborty and Jaya Ahsan sharing the screen in a feature film for the first time. And now, Atanu, being the captain of the ship, has another reason to celebrate. ‘Binisutoy’ will soon start its festival journey as it has been officially selected to be screened at the prestigious International Film Festival of Kerala which is scheduled to start on December 6.