Weekend Roundup: Tollywood’s top newsmakers of the week

If you have missed the exciting news, gossip or latest developments that made headlines in Tollywood this week, here is a weekly roundup for you. Take a look:

A treasure hunt accompanied by Sonada, Abir and Jhinuk’s sweet bonding, dollops of nostalgia, and a pinch of history — Dhrubo Banerjee’s Puja release ‘Karnasubarner Guptodhon’ offered everything that the audience were expecting from this adventure franchise. According to industry sources, the box office numbers are also quite impressive for the film leaving behind all the Bengali releases this Puja including the mighty ‘Kacher Manush’ starring Dev and Prosenjit Chatterjee. The makers have released the official box office numbers of ‘Karnasubarner Guptodhon’ after its one-week run and it is said to be a staggering 5.5 crores. Due to the Durga Puja vacation the film, reportedly with an approximate budget of 2.5 crores, saw a massive footfall in the opening week.

From performing dhunuchi naach to taking part in Debi boron and smearing each other in vermillion —celebs in Kolkata lived up the four days of Durga Puja after two years of muted celebrations. Durga Puja this year is a grand celebration as Tollywood celebs brought in the festivities with great pomp and fervour. The festivities mean memorable feasts and lots of desserts with family and friends. Whether its food or fashion, classic with a contemporary twist – that’s the mantra of every Bengali out there. for all the feasting, partying and adda we have planned, fashion is all about comfort and exploring our ethnic wardrobe. And, that’s what kept celebs busy this year.

Whether films like ‘Monsoon Wedding’, ‘Dev D’, Khuda Hafiz: Chapter 2 or OTT shows like ‘Criminal Justice’ and ‘Jamtara’, actor Dibyendu Bhattacharya’s stellar performances speak for him. The versatile actor is currently on a dream run with one dream role after another. And now, he’s all set to play the main antagonist in the much-anticipated action flick ‘Mirza’ which sees Ankush in his ragged avatar. People are already appreciating ‘Mirza’s larger-than-life approach and Ankush admits he has always wanted to make larger-than-life films which will give the audience the perfect dose of entertainment they want to see on the big screen. ‘Mirza’ is being directed by Sumit-Sahil and will release during Eid next year.

Raja Chanda’s next is a rom-com titled ‘Bibaho Bibhrat’ and stars Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Abir Chatterjee and Lahoma Bhattacharya in key roles. The rom-com deals with marriage and has an interesting message at the end but in no way is it preachy. We have seen Parambrata and Abir sharing the screen in a number of films, including Srijit Mukherji’s ‘Baishe Srabon’ and ‘Shah Jahan Regency’, and Kaushik Ganguly’s Bastu Shaap to name a few. Earlier this year they once again shot for Suman Mukhopadhyay’s ‘Putul Naacher Itikotha’. The story has two important characters - a suave one and the other one is not so suave. Abir will be seen as the suave man and Parambrata plays the other one. Lahoma will be seen as the female lead Mohor and will bring some freshness since she is a new face in the industry.

After the huge success of ‘Haami’, director duo Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee are all set to enthrall fans with an equally entertaining sequel ‘Haami 2’. The musical trailer of the upcoming film is already out and it promises a laugh riot. We already know three child artists Ritodeep Sengupta, Shreyan Ghosh, and Aritrika Chowdhuri will be seen in the lead alongside Shiboprosad and Gargee RoyChowdhury. The trailer showed a glimpse of the rest of the cast. A host of celebrated actors including Prosenjit Chatterjee, Anjan Dutt, Haranath Chakraborty, Monami Ghosh, Tnusree Chakraborty, and others are set to join the ‘Haami 2’ team. The trailer also introduces the title track of this film. Written and composed by Anindya Chatterjee, the song aptly sums up the mood of the narrative.

Parambrata Chattopadhyay is riding high with his impressive works both in Tollywood and Bollywood. He’s juggling between projects with equal elan. And now, the actor-director has started shooting for Kannada director Pawan Wadeyar’s first Hindi film ‘Notary’. The first schedule is in Udaipur. The social satire will see the versatile actor playing an honest employee who never lies even in the most hostile situations. Parambrata’s character is in a profession that often tempts people to compromise their core beliefs. It’s a story about how he overcomes such situations while staying true to his ethics.

Abhiroop Basu is back with his new short which is again a page out of real life just like his previous directorial works ‘Meal’, ‘Laali’, ‘Gudgudi’ and ‘Gudiya’. This time he has reunited with seasoned actor Adil Hussain who plays a closet gay Muslim factory worker in the 25-minute long film. According to Abhiroop, it’s a film that addresses many issues related to the LGBTQIA community. “It’s an interesting story about Asif, a closet gay Muslim factory worker who embarks on a journey of self-discovery. He loses his job at the factory and takes up an odd job at a B-Movie cinema hall. The post-pandemic world is the backdrop of the film and I am so lucky that Adil Hussain agreed to do such a layered character,” shares an excited Abhiroop while speaking about the film.