Srijato Bandopadhyay is a child star in the making

Srijato

Bandopadhyay has won many a million hearts with his stellar performance in Parambrata Chatterjee’s recently released ‘Shonar Pahar’. Despite an ensemble cast including big names like Tanuja, Jisshu Sengupta, Parambrata Chatterjee, it’s child actor Srijato who masterfully anchors the emotional drama. It may sound too early to predict but the film fraternity is already saying here’s a child star in the making. His character, 7-year-old Bitlu, is the latest addition to Bengali cinema’s tradition of natural and utterly sweet child actors.

Everybody is well aware of Satyajit Ray’s famous child characters - from Apu, Kajol to Mukul and Pikoo. It is safe to claim that Bitlu, with all his sassy attitude and roguish repartee, stands on his own in ‘Shonar Pahar’.

For instance, the scene in which little Bitlu asks Upama’s sister-in-law who seems to be taunting the elderly woman, "Have you watched Kiranmala on TV?" When she admits it and counters why he asked that, Bitlu promptly retorts, "It’s not surprising that you sound like Katkati!" (Katkati is the wicked demon queen in a Bengali TV serial). There are so many gems similar to this scene and Bitlu delivers just like a veteran professional actor. No doubt little Srijato’s performance is the USP of ‘Shonar Pahar’.