Weekend roundup: Bengali celebs and films which made headlines

Whether it’s the sad news of two veteran actors Chinmoy Roy and Ramen Roy Choudhury’s demise, the next Byomkesh Film’s story, Raj Chakraborty casting Subhashree in his upcoming film, the box office success of ‘Goopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya’ to the sensational news of Mithun Chakraborty’s return to big screen; it was a week full of rumours 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.

Last year Arindam Sil’s ‘Byomkesh Gowtro’ received an overwhelming response from the audience and raked good numbers at the box office as well. So, what about the next Byomkesh film? Will it be bigger than last time? Arindam Sil hasn’t yet revealed which story he is working on but has assured the script writing is in full swing. The director himself, Bratya Basu and Padmanava Dasgupta are working on it together. There’s no news about the cast but we hear the next Byomkesh film will have a number of theatre artists. Earlier there were reports suggesting Arindam plans to make his next Byomkesh film against the backdrop of Nainital and the story will be based on Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay’s another epic thriller ‘Magna Mainak’.

Veteran actor Chinmoy Roy breathed his last on Sunday at 10.15 pm at his Kolkata residence at the age of 79. The celebrated actor used to live a life far away from media limelight after the death of his wife, actor Jui Bandopadhyay. Last year in June, he had a near death experience after falling down from his apartment. He was also suffering from age related illness over the last few years. Sankha Roy, son of Chinmoy, has said the actor was not feeling well after the dinner on Sunday and suffered a cardiac arrest at around 10 pm.

We have seen him playing a wide range of characters over the years with elan. Give him any character, Rajatava Dutta just nails it. The seasoned actor who was last seen in Arnab Paul’s psychological thriller ‘Brishti Tomake Dilam’ now says he would love to return to the small screen. Incidentally, since 2009 Rajatava has never acted in small screen. During a recent media interaction, the popular actor said: “I have no reservations regarding television. But serials go on for almost two years. There’s 20 to 22 day shooting schedule in a month for TV serials. So, it would hamper theatre and film works. I have a few conditions if there’s any small screen offer. It has to be a central character, the story should attract me and also the serial has to be with limited number of episodes.”

We all had our fingers crossed to hear the news. When will we see Subhashree Ganguly in Raj Chakraborty’s film? Now, if the latest reports are to believe the wait is finally over. We hear the ‘Adventures Of Jojo’ director has roped in Ritwick Chakraborty to play the lead opposite Subhashree in his upcoming romantic drama tentatively titled ‘Parineeta’. Adrit Roy will also play a pivotal role in this film under the banner of Raj’s home production. Ritwick’s presence in the cast ensures the subject of this film will be unique and out of the box.

Shilpa Ranade’s directorial debut ‘Goopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya’, a children animation, continues to win hearts since its release on March 1. The film was released in 83 screens and 140 shows which made it the largest ever release for an independent Indian animation film. Satyajit Ray made his cult classic ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’ based on his grandfather Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury’s popular story and ‘Goopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya’ absorbs the spirit of Ray’s movie and detailing from the original story, and presents us a nice little animated movie. The film has sailed through the weekends among 24 releases without dropping a single show. Like vintage wine, the music of ‘Goopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya’ has also managed to win hearts with a texture that is earthy, balanced and immersive at the same time.

Veteran Bengali actor Ramen Roy Choudhury passed away on Tuesday, March 19 at the age of 75. The popular television and film actor was suffering from cancer and a dysfunctional kidney for a long time. He was admitted to the hospital recently, but was discharged as he was recovering. Ramen Roy Choudhury, who is best known for his roles in commercial films had also worked under renowned filmmakers like Tapan Sinha and Goutam Ghose.

Comedy is Abhimanyu Chakraborty’s favourite genre, be it pure comedy, comedy-thriller or social satire. Two films ‘Hullor’ and Teko’ are already in the pipeline while ‘Googly’ is set to release on March 29. It revolves around a stammering couple starring Soham Chakraborty and Srabanti Chatterjee in the lead. Now we hear Abhimanyu is working on another rom-com’s script. He plans to rope in Gaurav Chakraborty and Srabanti in the lead. It will also be an emotional rom-com. The talented director who made his debut with 2018 film ‘Noor Jahan’ is also waiting for the release of a thriller produced by Surinder Films. Titled ‘Flyover’, it stars Gaurav, Koel Malliack and TV actor Ravi Shaw in the lead.

Kaushik Ganguly next ‘Jyeshthoputro’ was supposed to release during Poila Baishakh. However, the release date has now been pushed to April 26 since Kaushik’s wife Churni Ganguly’s next directorial ‘Tarik’ is releasing on April 12. While Prosenjit Chatterjee and Ritwick Chakraborty play the male lead, three extremely talented actors Sudiptaa Chakraborty, Gargee Roychowdhury and Daminee Basu will be seen as the female leads. Jointly produced by Surinder Films and Nideas Creations, ‘Jyesthoputro’ is a story of two brothers where the elder brother is a celebrity while the younger brother is a common man. Prosenjit Chatterjee plays the titular role of the elder brother and Ritwick will be seen as the younger brother.

Three times National Award winner Mithun Chakraborty is all geared up to make a comeback on the big screen with a Hindi political thriller. Directed by Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, the thriller titled ‘Who Killed Shastri’ deals with the mysterious death of India's former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Sashtri. Mithun is set to play Shyam Sundar Tripathi, a political leader who have always valued winning the most. The trailer will be out on March 25.

Kamaleswar Mukherjee's ‘Password’, which is set to hit the screens during this Puja under the banner of Dev’s home production deals with the subject of cybercrime and digital surveillance. The film comes with a stellar cast which includes Dev, Paoli Dam, Rukmini Maitra, Adrit and Parambrata Chatterjee and promises to be a jaw-dropping thriller. The shoot of the first schedule was recently wrapped up. “We wrapped up the first schedule of Password last night. And I must add this by far has been the most challenging film of mine, mentally and physically," said Rukmini in tweet recently.