UK TV network picks up Bengali film rights

KOLKATA: Channel 4, a British free-to-air public broadcast television network, which is independently operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation, has acquired the UK and Ireland screening rights of a contemporary Bengali film.
The rights have been licensed for telecasting Prasun Chatterjee’s ‘Dostojee’ four times over in the UK and Ireland within 18 months.
In 2021, Satyajit Ray’s ‘Mahanagar’ and ‘Charulata’ were part of Channel 4’s annual Indian film season that had a cross-section of the best contemporary and classic Indian cinema. Varsha Bansal, whose family produced both the Ray films, told TOI, “Curated by season consultant and Indian cinema expert Nasreen Kabir, the annual Indian film season is the longest running strand in Channel 4’s history.
Channel 4 picked up ‘Kapurush’ from ‘Mahapurush O Kapurush’ in March 2019 for a year. These days we have many international OTT players looking beyond Bollywood that are showing interest in various Indian feature films. But there is a hierarchy even among these OTT players. If a contemporary Bengali film has been picked up by Channel 4, it is as good as winning an international award,” Bansal said
‘Dostojee’, a Bengali film about two boys navigating a growing religious divide after the destruction of Babri masjid, has completed 50 days on the big screen and is still commanding a full house at some places. “It’s a rare honour for a Bengali film. The 2021 lineup had only two Bengali films by Ray. For a debutant director, nothing can be more prestigious than his film being picked up by such a prestigious network. Such a business acquisition is not just an honour for my film but also for contemporary Bengali cinema at large,” Chatterjee said.