‘Uronchondi’: Interesting facts about the first road movie of Bengali cinema

Abhishek Saha’s directorial debut ‘Uronchondi’ narrates the story of three women from different age groups who are all victims of a male-dominated society and are on a run from their past seeking a better future. Will these oppressed women be able to escape from this male-dominated society or they will fight back for their rights? That’s what forms the crux of this first road movie of Bengali cinema. Ahead of its release on August 3, take a look at these facts which make ‘Uronchondi’ worth a watch.

‘Uronchondi’, touted to be the first road movie in Bengali cinema, narrates the story of four different people who embark on a journey together. The plot follows three female protagonists from three different generations - Chitra Sen, Sudiptaa Chakraborty and newcomer Rajnandini Paul, and a young lorry driver Chottu played by Amartya Roy. There are so many instances in our society in which women from a very young age confront oppression, torment, and debauchery. The characters Chitra Sen, Sudiptaa, and Rajnandini portray the faces of such women who eventually stand up for themselves after facing years of abuse and repression.

‘Uronchondi’ refers to a person who doesn’t care about the laws of the norms. Abhishek Saha's directorial debut revolves around three rural women. While speaking about his first film as a director, Abhishek revealed how Prosenjit Chatterjee pushed him to make ‘Uronchondi’, "If my friends and obviously my producer Prosenjit Chatterjee didn’t guide me, ‘Uronchondi’ won’t have been possible. Frankly speaking, Bumba Da motivated and pushed me a lot to start working on this film. Basically, I have never planned anything in my life.”

As the main focus was to make a road movie, the film was entirely shot outdoors and it took only 13 days to wrap up the shooting part. While speaking about the thrilling experiences of the outdoor shooting, one of the key protagonists of the film senior actress Chitra Sen recently said, “Yes, it was quite a challenge when we were shooting outdoors. The extreme heat stopped the shooting many times and we were always quite tensed about the unexpected changes in the weather. But when we eventually finished the shooting, we felt so relaxed and it seemed all the hard work finally paid off.”

The trailer and music of ‘Uronchondi’ are creating quite a flutter ahead of its release on August 3. Despite raising questions about a serious social issue involving oppressed women in our society, the film received an uncut ‘U’ certificate. It’s certainly a good news for a relatively small budget film because most of the films speaking for social issues these days face the wrath of the censor board. Bankrolled by Prosenjit Chatterjee’s home production Nideas, the film certainly has a bright prospect considering the promotional campaign it carried out over the past few months.

Sudiptaa Chakraborty can leave any movie buff in awe with her natural expressions alone but she has no such regrets about not being fully explored for her acting skills. The thespian and versatile actress loves to work with newcomers instead of already established industry biggies. That’s why she accepted the role of a Bihari woman Bindi in her husband Abhishek Saha’s directorial debut ‘Uronchondi’. However, initially Sudiptaa wanted to stay away from the film: "I thought people might gossip as it’s my husband’s film, I am a natural choice. But it was Prosenjit Chatterjee, who convinced me into doing the character Bindi.”