Bengali actors to rule Bollywood this year

— Sutapa Singha
Bong actresses rocking Bollywood with their charm, grace and acting prowess is not a new phenomenon. In fact, there have been times when Bollywood has successfully ridden on the popularity of Bong actresses in the Industry. And this year, it's going to be no different. There are as many as 5 actresses who will be making an appearance in Bollywood films this year. And if the trailer of Byomkesh Bakshi is anything to go by, they are going to make this country swoon. Also, we give you two actors as bonus, who will also be adding on to the Bengali bandwagon this year.

Swastika Mukherjee: By now, you must have watched the trailers of Dibakar Banerjee's Byomkesh Bakshi, and swooned over Swastika Mukherjee's sultry Anguri. However, Byomkesh Bakshi, which releases this April, is not Swastika's first brush with Bollywood. In 2010, she was part of an ensemble cast for Mumbai Cutting, which made it to the festival circuit, however, was commercially unreleased. Swastika, who has had a choppy 2014, has upped the expectations, with an enigmatic teaser in the Byomkesh trailer. Let’s hope she lives upto the expectations.

Rituparna Sengupta: Rituparna Sengupta just bagged another Bollywood film. The Rajan Lyallppuri film, Ek Baar Phir Kaho, also stars Rahul Dev and Marathi actor Pushkar Jog, among others. Bappi Lahiri is scoring the music. It's a mature love story with a social message," said Rituparna, who is busy dubbing for Agnidev Chatterjee's Tere Aane Se, in which she is paired opposite Purab Kohli. Then there is Extraordinary being directed by another Bengali, Sunanda Shyamal Mitra, which revolves around a grooming guru, Taniya (Rituparna). The film deals with the cutthroat competition in the modelling world.

Paoli: No, Hate Story did not get the box-office soaring, but Paoli's dare-bare act sure got screens blazing and directors noticing. Then she did another film with Vikram Bhatt's banner, the Ankur Arora Murder Case, which received a lukewarm response. This year, Subhash Saigal's Yara Sili Sili, where Paoli stars opposite Parambrata Chatterjee, is set to release. The story spans two days and revolves around two people, both Bengali, on a train journey. In fact, she also has a few more Bolly projects in her kitty, including another Vikram Bhatt film.

Raima Sen: Raima Sen is not a new name in Bollywood. In fact, this pretty bong lassie started her career in the film industry with a Bollywood film and has, over the years, starred in a string of Bollywood film, both successful and not-so-successful. Last year, with a stellar performance in the critically appreciated film Children Of War ( directed by Mrityunjay Devvrat), she made sure she made strengthened her foothold in the industry. Currently, she is shooting for KD Satyam's Bollywood Diaries, where she plays a prostitute, Imli, who copies all Bolly actresses and thinks that one day she will be a star. She is also shooting for Ishq Kabhi Kariyo Na, in which she is paired with Prateik Babbar. This Rana Bhatia film sees Raima playing a rich, spoilt housewife who gets embrioled in a messy extra-marital affair. Apart from these, Anil Kumar Chaudhary's small budget Kagaz Ke Fools also stars Raima, alongside Vinay Pathak, Saurabh Shukla and Mugdha Godse, in with Raima plays a sex-worker who improves on an amateur writer's novel, turning it into a best seller.

Arpita: The stunning Arpita, Prosenjit Chatterjee's wife, will be foraying into Bollywood this year with Onir's Shab. The intense relationship drama revolves around characters who live life on the edge. Arpita plays a Delhi socialite who falls in love with a younger man. For her character, Raina, Arpita went through a complete transformation, chopping off her long locks for a shorter, pixie-ish cut, which definitely raised quite a few eyebrows with his high style quotient!

Paayel Sarkar: This girl-next-door is on a roll. Her small but significant role in Chotushkone was hugely appreciated, and she garnered praise for her act opposite Abir Chatterjee in Ebar Shabor too. To back-to-back hits did into her kitty a couple of projects. But the one project we are waiting for is the Bollywood film Guddu Ki Gun, where she stars opposite Kunal Kemmu. Bollywood directors Shantanu Ray and Sheershak Anand's film revolves around a washing powder salesman in Kolkata who hails from Bihar and is a self-confessed casanova. But this is not Paayel's first tryst outside Tollywood. She made a huge name for herself in Tollywood with her TV series, Love Story, which aired during 2007-2008, and followed it up with a couple of more series.

Jisshu Sengupta: Last year, he gave a subtle and underplayed performance in Mardaani, which won him many accolades. And then he bagged the coveted lead role opposite Deepika Padukone in Shoojit Sircar's Piku, which also stars Amitabh Bachchan and Irrfan. Now, that is a role, Bollywood's top stars would have killed to bag. The Father-daughter relationship also sees two other bong actors, Aniruddha RoyChowdhury and Moushumi Chatterjee.