Tollywood Roundup: Bengali celebs who made headlines this week

Whether it’s the latest announcement of Srijit’s new project, a thriller titled ‘Vinchida’, Flat No. 609’s official selection at an International Film Fest, uncertainty over Kolkata’s heritage cinema hall Talkie Show House’s future or the sad death of a budding actress Payel Chakraborty to Soumitra Chatterjee’s emotional connection with grandson; it was a week full of rumours and exciting news from the Tollywood industry. Here is a look at Bengali cinema's 10 of the most exciting news from this week.

After the success of ‘Baishe Srabon’ and ‘Chatushkon’, Srijit Mukherjee will return to thriller genre yet again. Srijit's ‘Ek Je Chhilo Raja’ will hit the theatres this Puja and one more ‘Shah Jahan Regency’, an adaptation of Shankar's ‘Chowrighee’ will release in December. He has already announced a film on Gumnami Baba in which Prosenjit Chatterjee will play the titular role. However, there is every possibility that the thriller titled ‘Vinchida’ will release before it. The upcoming thriller has an ensemble cast. Ritwick Chakraborty, Rudranil Ghosh, Sohini Sarkar, and Anirban Bhattacharya have been roped in to play the leads.

Payel Chakraborty, an aspiring actress from the Bengali film industry, was found dead under mysterious circumstances on Wednesday morning in a Siliguri hotel, North Bengal. A police investigation has already started and preliminary reports are suggesting it’s a case of suicide. The actress, who is originally from South Kolkata, checked into a hotel near Siliguri Church Road on Tuesday evening. According to the hotel authorities, she was supposed to leave for Gangtok on Wednesday morning. But there was no trace of her leaving the hotel on Wednesday and her room was also locked from inside since her arrival. The hotel authorities had to inform the local police as there was no response from her even after repeated knocks on the door. Later, the local police found her body and sent it for postmortem.

A documentary-feature film on veteran photographer Nemai Ghosh will be screened in London and Edinburgh this month. The film, titled ‘A Ray of Light’, has been directed jointly by Anirban Mitra and Tirtha Dasgupta. Nemai Ghosh mostly received his international acclaim for working with the legend Satyajit Ray for more than two decades. Their association started with ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’ (1969), until Ray’s last film ‘Agantuk’ (1991). The 84-year-old veteran photographer has held so many exhibitions at home and abroad so far and was even awarded the Padma Shri in 2010 for his contributions to Indian cinema. ‘A Ray of Light’ is set to be screened in London and Edinburgh on September 6 and 14 respectively.

Just like its equally illustrious peers Elite, Globe, Metro and many others in the city, Talkie Show House, one of the heritage single-screen theatres in north Kolkata, may shut down soon. Revenues from film shows have been down to the minimum for the past few years. Talkie Show House owner Nirmal Dey reveals a sad reality while speaking about the uncertain future of the theatre. “On August 29, ‘Sultan’, starring a superstar like Jeet, attracted merely 13, 23, and 13 viewers during the noon, matinee, and evening shows respectively. We had to cancel the night show as there were no bookings at all. Even the salaries of all the staffs are pending for the last two months. It’s really sad to see that even the crowd who once visited the hall for the new Hindi films are not enthusiastic to watch them as it’s a single-screen theatre,” said Nirmal Dey.

What’s Uttam Kumar’s last film? Most of us would promptly answer ‘Ogo Bodhu Sundari’. Did you know that’s not the correct answer? Yes, you heard it right. The Bengali matinee idol breathed his last while filming for ‘Ogo Bodhu Sundari’ on July 24, 1980. But only a few months ahead of his demise, Uttam Kumar already finished dubbing for a crime thriller ‘Plot No. 5’. It was a Hindi film in which he was seen as a serial killer who is bound to his wheelchair. ‘Plot No. 5’ was also the only film in which three acting legends of Indian cinema appeared together – Uttam Kumar, Amol Palekar and Amjad Khan. The film also had Pradip Kumar, Sarika, Viju Khote, Benjamin Gilani, Vidya Sinha and Shriram Lagoo in pivotal roles.

Arindam Bhattacharya’s ‘Flat No. 609’ has struck the right chord since its release on August 31 with its intriguing horror quotient and gripping suspense elements. The horror-thriller, starring Abir Chatterjee and Tanushree Chakraborty in the lead, it has sent the industry into a tizzy with big names like Prosenjit Chatterjee, Kaushik Ganguly, Srijit Mukherji, Arindam Sil and many others going gaga over it. Now there is one more good news for the ‘Flat No. 609’ team. It’s now an official selection in the feature film competition category at the inaugural Bay Area South Asian Film Festival.

You would be surprised to know that Soumitra Chatterjee seeks his inspiration from his grandson Ronodeep Bose who is still recovering after discharged from hospital last year following a bike accident which left him severely injured. Ronodeep is still to regain his full senses due to the brain injury he sustained. An emotional Soumitra Chatterjee revealed while speaking about his grandson: “I see him every morning and hold his hand. He is still recovering but understands what we say. I feel heartbroken whenever I see him bedridden. But you know what the best part is whenever I hold his hand it gives me inspiration, the strength to live.”

In her upcoming release ‘Debi’, which is also Jaya Ahsan’s debut production, the Bangladeshi actress is set to don a completely different character of Ranu which is devoid of any glamour. ‘Debi’ is based on the mystic fictional character ‘Misir Ali’ created by Bangladesh’s one of the finest writers Humayun Ahmed and Jaya is happy to see her first production is a screen adaptation of such an interesting character. “Debi is basically a horror-mystery. It’s great to see that my first production is based on a subject which I admire most. Misir Ali is every Bangladeshi’s preferred choice. I play a girl Ranu whose mental age is stuck in 13. It’s no doubt one of the most difficult characters I have ever played. I just hope that people love it,” said the beautiful actress.

Director Sayantan Ghosal and his ‘Sagardwipe Jawker Dhan’ team had a blast in Thailand recently. The one-week shoot was full of adventures and the lead actors Parambrata Chatterjee, Koel Mallick and Gaurav Chakrabarty even explored some of the most remote caves and forests near the Ao Nang and Krabi islands during the shoot. While elaborating on their recent Thailand experiences, Sayantan revealed it was Parambrata’s diving sequences which were the most dangerous part. “The sea so turbulent, it scared everyone, particularly during Parambrata’s scuba diving sequence shoots. Can you believe it? Parambrata doesn’t know swimming and jumped in the middle of the ocean. The weight of the oxygen cylinder on his back looked dangerous. Also, the not so predictable high tide and low tide made it more difficult,” said the director.

Swapna Barman’s gold medal in heptathlon at the recently concluded Asian Games in Jakarta made the entire nation proud as it’s the first for any Indian athlete from this particular track and field segment. Speculation was rife over the past few days that a biopic will be made on the Bengal athlete. But now it seems it won’t happen in near future as Subhash Sarkar, the personal trainer of Swapna Barman, recently refused an offer from a noted Tollywood director for a biopic on the athlete. Subhash Sarkar reportedly claimed that the director, supported by a big production house in Kolkata, had allegedly reached out to him with an idea of a biopic which he turned down straight away.