It’s not even been two weeks since Bengali romantic action thriller Dhumketu released in theatres across West Bengal, and the film’s producer Rana Sarkar has already appealed to Muhammad Yunus to allow the film to be released in Bangladesh.
In a Facebook post that has now gone viral, Sarkar has also requested Bangladeshi fans of the film’s lead actors, Dev Adhikari and Subhashree Ganguly, to appeal on his behalf to the Bangladesh government.
Sarkar has his reasons to dream of taking Dhumketu beyond borders at a time when India’s relationship with Bangladesh has come under strain. The film had the biggest opening day of all time in Bengali cinema following its 14 August release. The local press reported that the film has crossed the Rs 10-crore mark at the box office in just four days, a significant feat for the Bengali film industry.
And it is not just Dhumketu that set the box office on fire. A slew of big hits like The Eken: Benaras-e Bibhishika, KillBill Society, and Aamar Boss are giving industry insiders reason to claim 2025 marks a comeback for Bengali cinema. Tollywood has been derided in recent years for not being able to stand on its feet.
With fresh new stories, smart marketing strategies, and a timely push from the Mamata Banerjee government, it seems Tollywood would prove its most recent naysayer, Anurag Kashyap, wrong.
Anything but ‘ghatiya’ stories
In early 2024, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap had criticised the state of Bengali cinema and said it has turned ‘ghatiya’ (shoddy). The filmmaker said the industry that once saw its golden phase with makers like Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, and Satyajit Ray, has now fallen from its peak. It was a comment that had made Tollywood sit up and take notice.
Kahaani (2012) actor Parambrata Chatterjee, a known face in Tollywood, had reacted to Kashyap’s statement and said the reason for the deterioration of the Bengali film industry is the lack of focus on mainstream commercial Bengali cinema. “If mainstream cinema in any industry doesn’t work, then it is very difficult to make any other kind of film. Because the audience size should be big enough that you can eat out of that. Our kind of cinema (alternative cinema) thrives on surplus. If there is no steady inflow, then there is no surplus. There is an alienation that happened in 2011,” Chatterjee had said in an interview.
Chatterjee noted that while Bengali cinema was seeing a resurgence through filmmakers like Srijit Mukherji, Kaushik Ganguly and others, making middle-of-the-road Bengali films, the industry unexpectedly shifted away from making big massy entertainers.
And it is now Kaushik Ganguly who has delivered the year’s biggest hit from Tollywood so far, Dhumketu, even after clashing with Hrithik Roshan-Jr NTR-starrer War 2, and Rajinikanth’s Coolie at the box office.
Reviewing the film, The Telegraph wrote: “One of the pillars of Dhumketu is Kaushik Ganguly’s screenplay. Although made a decade ago, the messaging of the story is relevant even today. While the makers do not encourage extremism as a means of protest against systemic violence, the director underlines the importance of speaking out against institutional injustice and the significance of protest as a democratic right.”
One of the reasons behind Dhumketu’s success is indeed the film’s story. The film’s lead actor, Dev Adhikari, plays boy-next-door turned extremist Bhanu, whose tragedy unfolds in flashbacks. A local teacher’s son growing up in the hills of Darjeeling, Bhanu, meets the love of his life and tries to settle down in happy matrimony when his world is turned upside down by a crime syndicate that runs the local tea industry.
His brother is killed, and his father tortured, as Bhanu himself runs away to save his life and joins an extremist group that believes the only way to change a rotten society is through the barrel of the gun. Years later, returning to Darjeeling in disguise to avenge his family, reconnect with an old friend, and carry out a suicide mission, the question lingers—will Bhanu get to see his beloved one last time?
“The French chef in Kaushik Ganguly handles the spicy, rich melodrama of Tandoori cuisine with consummate ease, whilst leaving his signature in a slice of brinjal sprinkled with Sukumar Roy,” filmmaker Srijit Mukherji posted about the film on Facebook.
Industry-wide revival
Among the other hits of 2025 that pushed the boundary of storytelling and found favour among the masses is Srijit Mukerji’s KillBill Society.
Released on 11 April 2025, the film revolves around an actor, a contract killer and their dystopian love story. When a private sex video gets circulated online, the young actor on the verge of stardom is hit hard by the public shaming and wants to end her life. But she doesn’t have it in her to kill herself and hires a professional killer who moonlights as a life coach. Loosely based on the real-life story of Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, who, at 19, had hired someone to kill her before retracting from the decision, KillBill Society got the audience nod as well as critical acclaim.
Closer to middle-class urban reality is the story of Aamar Boss, which also released to critical and commercial acclaim on 9 May 2025. Directed by Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee, it is the story of a middle-aged man who runs a publishing house and is estranged from his wife. When his mother, played by veteran Bollywood actor Rakhee Gulzar, who made her screen comeback after 22 years, decides to accompany her son to his office and begin work there. It changes the firm’s internal dynamics.
“The directorial duo Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy double-handedly rescued Bengali cinema from box office blues with the blockbuster true-life crime thriller Bohurupi in 2024. It is not short of astonishing how far removed the world of Aamar Boss, the directorial duo’s new heartwarming and, yes, heart-warming work, is from their previous film, ” reviewer Subhash K Jha wrote.
Also read: Dhumketu brings Dev & Subhashree on screen after 12 yrs. They were Bengali cinema’s ‘it couple’
History, mythology, more
The first half of 2025 thrilled audiences with big-ticket releases and fresh storylines; the second half promises an even bigger splash.
Among the Durga Puja releases late September this year are Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy’s Raktabeej 2, a political action thriller set against the backdrop of cross-border terrorism along the India-Bangladesh border. Local press has speculated that actor Seema Biswas is playing deposed Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the film.
“The manner in which the character Seema Biswas is playing has been portrayed in the film bears a close resemblance to Sheikh Hasina. Her mannerisms, her Dhakai Jamdani sari, and the way she covers her head are similar to Hasina’s. Though no official statement has come so far, fans have been left wondering if indeed Biswas is playing Hasina in the film,” the report said.
Set for release at the same time is the Subhrajit Mitra-directed magnum opus on the Sannyasi Rebellion of 1770, Devi Chowdhurani. Starring Bengali superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee and Srabanti Chatterjee in the lead roles, along with a host of topline actors from the Bengali film industry, Mitra’s film is a cinematic take on Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s novel of the same name.
“Published in 1884, Chatterjee’s novel is the story of a feisty woman who went to battle against the British and won with the help of a band of Robin Hood-type bandits. My film blends Chatterjee’s fiction with historical facts,” Mitra told ThePrint.
And then there is Dhrubo Banerjee’s Raghu Dakat starring Dev Adhikari. It’s a film based on the life and times of an enigmatic outlaw from the turbulent 18th-century Bengal who became part of Bengal’s folklore.
A variety of such stories have been adapted in Bengali cinema this year.
“2025 has been a great year for Bengali cinema with a wide range of offerings to choose from. It is as if the industry has found new wings to fly,” Senior entertainment journalist Ruman Ganguly told ThePrint.
She added that the crowd went mad every time they saw Dhumketu’s lead actors during the promotion of the film. The cinema halls are packed with audiences.
Marketing moves, government push
The recent success of Bengali cinema is also because of smart promotions.
On 23 August, actor Nusrat Jahan joined a flash mob at Kolkata’s New Market area and danced to a high-octane track from Raktabeej 2 called ‘Order Chhara Border’.
“It was completely new for me, and it was exciting to see the public going crazy, enjoying the song, loving the vibe,” Jahan told the press later.
Taking a very different route for promotions, director Subhrajit Mitra and the cast of Devi Chowdhurani have been busy temple-hopping to promote their film.
“For one, I am deeply religious myself. Also, the film is based on Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s novel and has a deep sense of Hindu religiosity. So, the lead actors and I have been visiting temples in Kolkata and beyond, like the Boro Maa Mandir in Naihati, to seek divine blessings,” Mitra told ThePrint.
Far away from Bengal’s temples, the teaser of Devi Chowdhurani lit up screens of Times Square this 15 August, marking the first-ever Independence Day unveiling for an Indian film at the location.
“It’s extremely exciting for our team to see the teaser showcased at Times Square throughout Independence Day 2025. This is a part of our forgotten history, and I’m grateful to my director and producers for such a grand canvas,” Srabanti Chatterjee, who plays Devi Chowdhurani, told the press.
The West Bengal government is also pushing for Tollywood. The government has issued a notification making it mandatory for all cinema halls and multiplexes in the state to screen Bengali films during prime time every day of the year.
The directive defines prime time as shows scheduled between 3 pm and 9 pm. “This has been a long-time demand from Tollywood and is one more thing to cheer about in a year that is seeing the revival of Bengali commercial cinema. Fingers crossed, the industry won’t have to look back from now on,” said Ganguly.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)