5 best gangster movies in Bengali cinema

As much as cine buffs binge on intense love stories, their hearts often skip a beat while peeking into the world of notorious gangsters on celluloid. There are some things about a gangster's life that intrigue us. Over the years, Bollywood has seen filmmakers like Ram Gopal Varma, Mahesh Bhatt, Vidhu Vinod Chopra attempting to spin tawdry tales based on underworld dons. However, Bengali cinema hasn’t seriously explored this subject over the years. Here is a list of 5 Bengali movies which took a turn into the underworld.

‘Zulfiqar’ is the ultimate gangster movie with a group of gun-wielding and brooding gangsters with a thirst for blood. Srijit Mukherji’s inspiration for this 2016 crime thriller came from not just one, but two tragedies- 'Julius Caeser' and 'Antonio and Cleopatra'. Though both are different plays, these two classics bring one single historical connection that was explored in the modern context. The magnum opus came with an ensemble cast including Prosenjit Chatterjee, Jisshu Sengupta, Parambrata Chatterjee, Dev, Ankush, Rahul, Nusrat Jahan in pivotal roles.

Birsa Dasgupta's ‘Gangster’ locked horns with 'Zulfiqar' at the box office. However, it came with a completely different take to an antisocial life, especially touching upon emotional turmoil. Starring debutant Yash Dasgupta and Mimi Chakraborty in the lead, the action flick narrates the story of a 'Gangster' in love. Kabir (Yash) with a criminal background possess a soft heart. He has been raised by the mafia supreme whom he calls Baba (Bratya Basu). Kabir aka Guru one day meets and falls for Ruhi (Mimi). With Ruhi, Guru finds happiness but following a shocking turn of events is shot by five anonymous assassins. What happens next forms the crux of the film.

The thriller 'Buno Haansh', directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, is based on a novel by Samaresh Majumdar of the same name. Dev played the lead sharing screen space with Srabanti Chatterjee and Tanusree Chakraborty. The plot deals with the darkest side of the underworld and the story revolves around Amal (played by Dev), who gets involved with a smuggling business and soon finds himself part of a dangerous game. Dev was seen as the incredibly passive guy you could ever come across. His friend convinces him to join the smuggling business and then a pretty lady on the run convinces Amal to take decisions that are even crazier. In both the cases, the character expresses very little and soon finds himself pulled along with others.

Touted to be the remake of Tamil hit Polladhavan (2007), Raj Chakraborty's action flick 'Borbaad' marked the debut of Bonny Sengupta and Rittika Sen. The story sees a carefree yet headstrong young lad Joy (Bonny) confront an antisocial family and things go south while all hell breaks loose. Mainak Banerjee’s portrayal of an eccentric and uncouth villain will make your blood curdle. Sudip Mukherjee delivers an excellent performance as a Muslim mafia leader with a conscience of his own. 'Borbaad' stands on its own with a little help from its action scenes though some fail to adhere to logic.

Directed by Riingo, the crime thriller revolves around ‘System one’, the nexus of criminals and gangsters in Kolkata headed by supremo ‘Da’, the Don of Kolkata. There is a middleman named Tara (Sabyasachi Chakraborty) who appoints contract killers for executing dirty works. Meanwhile, the protagonist ‘Eklavya’ (Indraneil Sengupta) is one such assassin who falls in love with a bar singer Rani (Suvra Kundu). There is also a ‘System two’ formed by a group of police officers who clash against the goons of ‘System one’. The film follows efficient and ruthless officer Rudra (Indrajit Chakraborty), a key member of ‘System two’, on his hunt to nab Eklavya in an attempt to bring him to justice.