It looks like a
complete
Kolkata sweep
in Mumbai films,
TV ads and music. The year 2012 has to be
the finest for Bengali actors
and filmmakers in Mumbai
tinseltown, commercials and
even at the National Awards.
Suddenly everything related to the once cultural capital of
India is hot and happening. It probably started off with
'Bidya Bagchi' and Bob
Biswas's bone-chilling turn in
the first sleeper hit of the
year, Kahaani directed by
Sujoy Ghosh and shot in the city of joy. For the first time in
years, a non-Kolkata
filmmaker chose not to make
a caricature of the city and its
residents and deftly captured
the magic moods of the vibrant megapolis during
Durga Puja. It marked the national
recognition of two of Bengal's
shining character actors,
Parambrata Chatterjee
(grandson of the legendary
filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak) as the supportive cop, Rana and
Sashwata Chatterjee, whose
15-minute screen presence
gave Bollywood films a brand
new villain who had web
pages devoted to him and a huge virtual following.
Parambrata who also did a
Domino's pizza TV commercial
reportedly has hired a talent
management company for
himself and says he's "open" to good film offers in
Bollywood. Dusky beauty Paoli Dam
created ripples with a bare-
back shot in Vivek Agnihotri's
Hate Story and to her credit,
the film emerged as a BO
winner. Prosenjit Chatterjee, Kolkata's reigning superstar
for two decades, makes a
comeback to B-Town in
Dibakar Banerjee's thriller,
Shanghai. Prosenjit, son of
former 60s star Biswajeet had a shaky first innings in Hindi
films in the late 80s. The
talented actor who arrogantly
rejected Saajan and Maine
Pyaar Kiya (films which might
have changed his fortune in Mumbai) had to be cajoled by
Dibakar (for three months) to
do this stellar appearance in
what's being touted as the
film of the season. Now, 49 year old Prosenjit is
hoping that Shanghai will "pull
him out of the regional cinema
mould" and give him a bigger
platform. Another Bengali
filmmaker from Delhi, Shoojit Sarkar's Vicky Donoris already
a major commercial success.
The interesting part? The
female protagonist (played by
Yami Gautam) is a Bengali girl
who's independent, smart and liberated, like any other urban
working woman is expected to
be. The Bengali family in VD is
not a typical stereotype that's
been used in Bollywood films
for decades now, but real people who are not cartoonish
rip-offs. Shoojit's next flick,
Jaffna, which revolves round
the LTTE, stars John Abraham
and a "leading Bengali
superstar". Anjan Dutta's Binoy Badal Dennis, starring Kay Kay
Menon, Jimmy Shergill and
Rituparna Sengupta in lead
roles, set in Kolkata, has
suddenly seen a renewed
interest from exhibitors and is now tentatively expected to
hit the screens in August. There are others from Kolkata
who're making a mark too,
Koel Mallick, Kolkata film
industry's current reign
woman has shot for a Vaseline
TVC airing nationally; Prosenjit's wife Arpita Pal has
shot the Lacto Calamine TVC.
Rupa Ganguly won the
National Award as the best
singer (female), while the
powerhouse of talent, Soumitra Chatterjee bagged
the much coveted Dadasaheb
Phalke Award this year.
Kolkata's busiest music
composer Jeet Ganguly made
his Bolly debut in Blood Money and is also doing music for
Aashiqui 2. Bollyland's most wanted
playback singer Ash King who
made a chartburning debut in
last years' Te Amo(from Dum
Maaro Dum), followed by the
chartbusting I Love You(Body Guard) was born Ashutosh
Ganguly. Ash or Ashutosh has
been now handpicked as the
chosen voice for Aamir Khan in
Dhoom 3. Of course there have been
heavyweight presence from
Kolkata in Indian cinema
before, Satyajit Ray was the
first Indian filmmaker to have
brought global honour in India, and filmmakers like Mrinal
Sen, Gautam Ghosh and
Buddhadev Dasgupta who have
made award winning
meaningful films that have
redefined cinema; or even Hrishikesh Mukherjee and
Basu Chatterjee who made
lighthearted, feel good Hindi
rom-coms, or Basu
Bhattacharya who made
intense love sagas, but that's another story. Kolkata is no longer just a city,
it is a character in films and
the stars/composers are now
receiving national acclaim.
Does it make a difference to
these stars/composers? May be not, since most of them revel
in their glory in their
hometown, but the heartening
fact is that at least one
segment of regional cinema is
getting some recognition finally. For now, take a bow,
Bengal.
Courtesy: Times of India
--
A. B.
complete
Kolkata sweep
in Mumbai films,
TV ads and music. The year 2012 has to be
the finest for Bengali actors
and filmmakers in Mumbai
tinseltown, commercials and
even at the National Awards.
Suddenly everything related to the once cultural capital of
India is hot and happening. It probably started off with
'Bidya Bagchi' and Bob
Biswas's bone-chilling turn in
the first sleeper hit of the
year, Kahaani directed by
Sujoy Ghosh and shot in the city of joy. For the first time in
years, a non-Kolkata
filmmaker chose not to make
a caricature of the city and its
residents and deftly captured
the magic moods of the vibrant megapolis during
Durga Puja. It marked the national
recognition of two of Bengal's
shining character actors,
Parambrata Chatterjee
(grandson of the legendary
filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak) as the supportive cop, Rana and
Sashwata Chatterjee, whose
15-minute screen presence
gave Bollywood films a brand
new villain who had web
pages devoted to him and a huge virtual following.
Parambrata who also did a
Domino's pizza TV commercial
reportedly has hired a talent
management company for
himself and says he's "open" to good film offers in
Bollywood. Dusky beauty Paoli Dam
created ripples with a bare-
back shot in Vivek Agnihotri's
Hate Story and to her credit,
the film emerged as a BO
winner. Prosenjit Chatterjee, Kolkata's reigning superstar
for two decades, makes a
comeback to B-Town in
Dibakar Banerjee's thriller,
Shanghai. Prosenjit, son of
former 60s star Biswajeet had a shaky first innings in Hindi
films in the late 80s. The
talented actor who arrogantly
rejected Saajan and Maine
Pyaar Kiya (films which might
have changed his fortune in Mumbai) had to be cajoled by
Dibakar (for three months) to
do this stellar appearance in
what's being touted as the
film of the season. Now, 49 year old Prosenjit is
hoping that Shanghai will "pull
him out of the regional cinema
mould" and give him a bigger
platform. Another Bengali
filmmaker from Delhi, Shoojit Sarkar's Vicky Donoris already
a major commercial success.
The interesting part? The
female protagonist (played by
Yami Gautam) is a Bengali girl
who's independent, smart and liberated, like any other urban
working woman is expected to
be. The Bengali family in VD is
not a typical stereotype that's
been used in Bollywood films
for decades now, but real people who are not cartoonish
rip-offs. Shoojit's next flick,
Jaffna, which revolves round
the LTTE, stars John Abraham
and a "leading Bengali
superstar". Anjan Dutta's Binoy Badal Dennis, starring Kay Kay
Menon, Jimmy Shergill and
Rituparna Sengupta in lead
roles, set in Kolkata, has
suddenly seen a renewed
interest from exhibitors and is now tentatively expected to
hit the screens in August. There are others from Kolkata
who're making a mark too,
Koel Mallick, Kolkata film
industry's current reign
woman has shot for a Vaseline
TVC airing nationally; Prosenjit's wife Arpita Pal has
shot the Lacto Calamine TVC.
Rupa Ganguly won the
National Award as the best
singer (female), while the
powerhouse of talent, Soumitra Chatterjee bagged
the much coveted Dadasaheb
Phalke Award this year.
Kolkata's busiest music
composer Jeet Ganguly made
his Bolly debut in Blood Money and is also doing music for
Aashiqui 2. Bollyland's most wanted
playback singer Ash King who
made a chartburning debut in
last years' Te Amo(from Dum
Maaro Dum), followed by the
chartbusting I Love You(Body Guard) was born Ashutosh
Ganguly. Ash or Ashutosh has
been now handpicked as the
chosen voice for Aamir Khan in
Dhoom 3. Of course there have been
heavyweight presence from
Kolkata in Indian cinema
before, Satyajit Ray was the
first Indian filmmaker to have
brought global honour in India, and filmmakers like Mrinal
Sen, Gautam Ghosh and
Buddhadev Dasgupta who have
made award winning
meaningful films that have
redefined cinema; or even Hrishikesh Mukherjee and
Basu Chatterjee who made
lighthearted, feel good Hindi
rom-coms, or Basu
Bhattacharya who made
intense love sagas, but that's another story. Kolkata is no longer just a city,
it is a character in films and
the stars/composers are now
receiving national acclaim.
Does it make a difference to
these stars/composers? May be not, since most of them revel
in their glory in their
hometown, but the heartening
fact is that at least one
segment of regional cinema is
getting some recognition finally. For now, take a bow,
Bengal.
Courtesy: Times of India
--
A. B.
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