Kolkata: Kolkata’s most sought-after filmmaker, Srijit Mukherji, is releasing his next film, Padatik, on 15 August. It is based on the life and times of Mrinal Sen, one of Bengal’s most iconic filmmakers. The actor playing Sen, however, is the legendary Bangladeshi actor Chanchal Chowdhury.
Padatik was slated for release in both West Bengal and Bangladesh, but given the current crisis in the neighbouring country, it is unlikely that that’ll happen anytime soon. As an interim government takes control of the country, there’s hope that Chowdhury will make it to Kolkata for the film’s release.
Sheikh Hasina’s ouster has sent shockwaves beyond Bangladesh, rattling the film industry in neighbouring West Bengal. The crisis has put ongoing projects and cross-border collaborations in jeopardy, throwing Kolkata’s leading filmmakers in disarray. From Mukherji’s Padatik to Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy’s Bohurupi, many joint film ventures are now stuck.
Projects in limbo
Padatik’s Bangladesh release will be postponed till the situation “becomes normal”, said Indranil Roy, CEO of the public relations firm Viral Factory while quoting the film’s producer Friends Communication. But Roy, whose firm is in charge of promoting Padatik, suggested that the current state of affairs is quite complex.
“How long will it take for the situation to become normal? Since no one at this stage can say this, joint ventures between West Bengal and Bangladesh in films and OTT are in limbo,” he said, adding that the film would have done great business in Bangladesh because Chanchal Chowdhury is “a big name” there.
The India-Bangladesh joint production Toofan, directed by Bangladeshi filmmaker Raihan Rafi and produced by local OTT platform Chorki, has made record collections in the country. The action thriller has been produced by Bangladesh’s Alpha-i Studios Limited, and co-produced by the West Bengal-based firm SVF. The film, which was released on 5 July this year, starred Bangladeshi superstar Shakib Khan, and the Bengali actress and former Trinamool Congress MP Mimi Chakraborty.
“It is unlikely that producers and directors will immediately plan projects with Bangladeshi studios or actors and actresses in West Bengal,” Roy said.
Listing out ongoing projects, film journalist Bhaswati Ghosh said producers and directors have gotten tight-lipped about joint ventures in the wake of the Bangladesh upheaval.
“This year, Srijit Mukherji’s Tekka and director duo Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy’s Bohurupi were slated for simultaneous release in West Bengal and Bangladesh,” said Ghosh. These films were supposed to be two of the biggest Durga Puja releases this year, but now, there’s no way of knowing if that’ll be possible. Apart from this, added Ghosh, a Bangladesh OTT platform had signed Kolkata filmmaker Raja Chanda for a project. But there is no news on that as well.
“Bangladeshi star Arifin Shuvoo, who had played Sheikh Mujib in Mujib: The Making of a Nation (2023), directed by Shyam Benegal and jointly produced by India and Bangladesh, had signed two projects in India. Details were awaited on the projects. But now, no one knows if they will take off,” she said.
Azmeri Haque Badhon, who acted in Vishal Bhardwaj’s 2023 Netflix film Khufiya, had been on the streets in Bangladesh, risking her life during the quota reforms movement that eventually led to the fall of Sheikh Hasina.
Talking to ThePrint over the phone from Dhaka, Badhon said she would want to act in films from West Bengal and Bollywood in the future.
“Winds of change are blowing in Bangladesh. Why just Indian cinema, I would want to work in the cinema of other countries as well once things settle down in Bangladesh,” Badhon said.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)