Weekend roundup: Bengali films and celebs who made the headlines

With the shocking news of living legend Soumitra Chatterjee being hospitalized, Abir and Sohini pairing up in Indraadip Das Gupta’s next film, the buzz surrounding ‘Gumnaami’ teaser, the Bengali film industry enjoyed quite some action this week. If you have missed the exciting news, gossips or latest developments that have rocked Tollywood, here is a quick look at the weekly roundup for you. Scroll down to have a look at the Bengali movies and stars who made headlines this week.

The teaser of Srijit Mukherjee's much-anticipated thriller ‘Gumnaami’ was dropped on social media on August 15 and what a way to pay tribute to Netaji! As expected, it grabbed the attention sending social media into a tizzy, especially Prosenjit Chatterjee’s transformation as a mysterious sadhu and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was lapped up by one and all. The movie revolving around Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and the mystery of the last phase of his life has stirred the emotion of Bengal.

Soumitra Chatterjee was admitted to a private city hospital on Wednesday after complaining about breathing problems. The iconic Bengali actor, who appeared in 14 films by Satyajit Ray and had been conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his contribution to Indian cinema, was admitted to the hospital around 9.30 am on Wednesday. Doctors revealed he was suffering from respiratory tract infection but the good news is he is out of danger right now. However, he is being treated in ICU under close supervision.

Bonny Sengupta’s first film ‘Jaanbaaz’ with his father, director Anup Sengupta, will hit the theatres this month. And now, the father-son duo is set to work together in another film which will be bankrolled by Surinder Films.

Titled ‘Racal’, the film’s story revolves around a love triangle. Bonny Sengupta’s character works at a call center and gets acquainted with a young girl played by Koushani Mukherjee. But it all goes wrong when she comes to know about the real identity of Bonny. What happens next forms the crux of the film. While Bonny and Koushani are in the lead, search for another lead actress who can be paired opposite Bony is still in progress.

Director Arindam Bhattacharya who has delivered hit thrillers like ‘Antarleen’ and ‘Flat No 609’ has made an interview series on Satyajit Ray. The series titled ‘Ochena Manik’ (The Unknown Ray) will see many renowned actors and film personalities talking about the legendary filmmaker and sharing their experiences of working with him. Mamata Shankar, Kushal Chakraborty, Barun Biswas, to name a few will be a part of the project.

After winning accolades and awards including the 66th National Film Award for his debut directorial ‘Kedara’, Indraadip Dasgupta is all set to roll out his next ‘Agantuk’. Indraadip says it’s a drama with elements of a thriller. How things unfold after a murder takes place is what the film is all about. Is it a murder or an accident? That’s what the film narrates. It’s also a social drama keeping the senior citizens in the center of the story. Abir Chatterjee and Sohini Sarkar will be seen in the lead. The cast also includes some of the popular character artists from the industry such as Sujan Mukhopadhyay, Mousumi, Sidhu, Devlina Kumar, Daminee Benny Basu and Debapratim Dasgupta.

Aneek Chaudhuri’s ‘Cactus’ has already got movie lovers hooked for its content and it seems there’s no stopping for the silent film that portrays Jesus Christ as a woman. On Friday, Aneek received the most precious laurel for his critically acclaimed film as he was informed ‘Cactus’ will be preserved at the Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences: The Oscars archive. It’s no doubt a proud moment for Indian cinema. ‘Cactus’ which stars Aparajita Dey (playing Jesus) and Anurupa Chakraborty (playing Mother Mary) in the lead was also nominated for Rome Independent Film Awards 2019. It received good response in the market section of Cannes and even secured a distribution deal globally.

Ahead of his much-anticipated film ‘Parineeta’s theatrical release in September, Raj Chakraborty has already announced his next film, a political drama titled ‘Garbhadharini’. In ‘Garbhadharini’, he wants to explore the day to day struggles in border area where religion and caste issues take center stage in almost every tensed situation which leads to murder and bloodshed every now and then. The story starts with three characters in the film taking shelter in the house of an elderly woman who is looked after by a young girl. The situation gets worse as these five characters face the reality. All the characters have a past and this gets interlinked with their present.

Swatilekha Sengupta will be seen in the role of the elderly woman. Ritwick Chakraborty, Subhashree Ganguly, Soham Chakraborty and Parno Mittra will be seen in the lead.

Seasoned actor Sabyasachi Chakraborty is all set to share the screen with popular Bangladeshi actress Suborna Mustafa in ‘Bhuban Majhi’-famed director Fakhrul Arefeen’s second film ‘Gondi’. Sabyasachi will be in Dhaka by the end of this month to complete the shooting after the London and Cox’s Bazar schedule. The last leg of the shoot will be done in and around Dhaka. The plot revolves around a touching friendship between a 65-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman, played by Sabyasachi and Suborna Mustafa respectively.

Ankush was looking for a good script for quite some time after his last ‘Bibaho Obhijaan’ which has been lapped up by the audience. And now he is back for his next, a thriller titled ‘Bhoy’. The film directed by Raja Chanda revolves around a young man who is enjoying a great career as a swimming coach. But, a shocking turn of events starts to scare him to death. Nusraat Faria will be seen as the female lead who is Ankush's autistic sister’s teacher helping the protagonist to overcome his fear. Ankush has shared the screen with Nusraat recently in ‘Bibaho Obhijaan’. According to industry sources, he will also be seen in a horror flick soon.

Arnab Middya’s critically acclaimed film ‘Andarkahini’, starring Priyanka Sarkar in the lead, has appealed for crowdfunding through Wishberry for its theatrical release. The film has already been screened at 47 film festivals in India and abroad and has won 36 awards.

The project was recently uploaded to the crowdfunding platform, Wishberry and the target of Rs 4 lakhs. The contributors have to submit a minimum amount of Rs 500. If the target amount couldn’t be reached within 30 days, the total amount will be returned to each and every contributor. If the project manages to achieve the target amount, the contributors will have the opportunity to win some rewards in kind.