Ardhangini
Among the rejected films are Sagnik Chatterjee’s ‘Master Angsuman’ that is based on a Ray story by the same name, Kaushik Ganguly’s ‘Palan’ which is a homage to Mrinal Sen and Subhankar Bhowmik’s ‘Alakshye Ritwik’ that is based on the life of Ritwik Ghatak. However, ‘Ardhangini’, another film by Ganguly starring Churni Ganguly, Jaya Ahsan and Koushik Sen made it to the coveted list.
The other two selected Bengali films are Arjunn Dutta’s ‘Deep Fridge’ starring Abir Chatterjee, Tnusree Chakraborty, Anuradha Mukherjee, Shoaib Kabeer, Debjani Chatterjee and Lakshya and Sayantan Ghoshal’s ‘Rabindra Kavya Rahashya’ starring Ritwick Chakraborty, Srabanti Chatterjee, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Shantilal Mukherjee, Rwitobroto Mukherjee and Rajnandini Paul. Eskay Movies, which produced the Tagore film, announced that this selection underscores its status as “one of the nation’s cinematic highlights for the year. Merging artful storytelling with a mainstream approach, the narrative masterfully intertwines the life and controversies of Rabindranath Tagore with a contemporary murder mystery intricately linked to him, aiming to make it both critically acclaimed and widely accessible to audiences”.
Rabindra Kavya Rahashya
Speaking about his personal Indian Panorama record, Ganguly said, “I had 10 films in a row. The 10th selection was ‘Jyeshthoputro’. Unfortunately, ‘Lokkhi Chhele’ wasn’t chosen and there was a gap of a year. ‘Ardhangini’ is my 11th Indian Panorama film selection.” On being asked if he is disappointed that ‘Palan’ didn’t make the cut while a commercial success like ‘Ardhangini’ did, the director said, “No, not at all. They have chosen what they liked more.”
Interestingly, both ‘Ardhangini’ and ‘Deep Fridge’ are about empathy among estranged couples. To discard emotional baggage or live with memories – that is a question haunting the lives of female protagonists (Churni in case of ‘Ardhangini’ and Tnusree Chakraborty in case of ‘Deep Fridge’). Yet, the treatment both in terms of visual appeal and script is starkly different.
Abir Chatterjee is thrilled with the selection of ‘Deep Fridge’. This film explores the tentativeness in the relationship of an estranged couple who spend one rainy night together. “I had told Arjun not to sulk if it didn’t get selected for the Indian Panorama. Now that it has, I am very happy.” On being asked how this selection feels considering that quite a few big budget movies too missed the bus, Dutta said, “This is my second selection. ‘Abyakto’ was my first film to have made it to the Indian Panorama. I have always wondered whether the essence of the old connection wane away completely or lasts somewhere deep inside the heart forever post-separation. My film chronicles the journey of such a couple with a child. This selection is a validation of the fact that I am in the right direction.”
According to a high-placed source, 25 Bengali films were in contention. Among the released films that vied for the Indian Panorama berth were some of the huge box-office successes of Tollywood. That included Avijit Sen’s ‘Projapoti’ starring Mithun Chakraborty-Dev-Mamata Shankar, Dhrubo Banerjee’s ‘Karna Subarner Guptadhon’ starring Abir Chatterjee, Ishaa Saha, Arjun Chakraborty, Rajatava Dutta and Saurav Das and Anirban Bhattacharya’s ‘Ballavpurer Roopkatha’ starring Satyam Bhattacharya, Bhupati Roy, Surangana Banerjee and Shyamal Chakraborty. Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee’s Durga Puja release, ‘Raktabeej’, which has Victor Banerjee, Anasua Majumdar, Abir Chatterjee, Mimi Chakraborty in the cast, too lost out in the race.
So did Atanu Ghosh’s ‘Aaro Ek Prithibi’ starring Tasnia Farin, Kaushik Ganguly, Anindita Bose and Shaheb Bhattacherjee. Other applicants were Birsa Dasgupta’s ‘Byomkesh O Durga Rahashya’, Prabir Roy’s ‘Agnimanthan’, Susmita Choudhury’s ‘Basundhara’, Pranabes Chandra’s ‘Bhuban Babur Smart Phone’, Abhijit Sridas’ ‘Bijoyar Pore’, Arghya Mukhopadhyay’s ‘Bonkopu’, Ashoke Viswanathan’s ‘Hemanter Aparnha’, Sona Chand Samanta’s ‘Kisholoyer Golpo’, Jitt Chakraborty’s ‘Kathamrito’, Manoj Das’ ‘Mahabhoj’, Rajesh Roy’s ‘Matripaksha’, Anirban Chakraborty’s ‘O Abhagi’, Chandrasish Ray’s ‘Porshi’ and Sannidhya Das’ ‘Vaidehi’.
Surprisingly, not a single non-feature film in Bengali found a place in the 20 selected ones in this category of the Indian Panorama. The only non-feature film with a hint of Bengali is Edmond Ranson’s ‘Life in Loom’.
