‘Dwitiyo Purush’ release to Abir and Nusrat pairing up for yet another film: The biggest highlights of Bengali cinema in January 2020

With the buzz surrounding Srijit Mukherji’s latest release ‘Dwitiyo Purush’, Jisshu Sengupta playing Soumitra Chatterjee in his biopic, Dev’s much-anticipated ‘Golondaaz’ motion poster, Abir and Nusrat teaming up yet again after ‘Asur’ - Bengali film industry enjoyed quite some action in January. If you have missed the exciting news, gossips or latest developments that have rocked Tollywood, here is a quick look at the monthly roundup for you. Scroll down to have a look at Bengali cinema’s biggest highlights in the first month of 2020.

After months of speculations, Parambrata Chattopadhyay has finally announced the Soumitra Chatterjee biopic which will be helmed by the actor-director. What’s more interesting is Jisshu Sengupta will be seen as a young Soumitra Chatterjee, while the living legend himself will portray the later phase of his life. Apart from Jisshu Sengupta, Paoli Dam will be seen as Suchitra Sen, critically acclaimed filmmaker Qaushiq Mukherjee will essay Satyajit Ray. Rudranil Ghosh will take on the role of legendary Rabi Ghosh. The biopic will go on the floors in February.

‘Dwitiyo Purush’ is no doubt Srijit Mukherji’s most-anticipated film. And why not? It’s the sequel to ‘Baishe Srabon’, the 2011 gritty thriller that became a sensation. Now, the much-anticipated sequel is in theatres now and since its release on January 23 the thriller has received an overwhelming response from the audience. The latest thriller from Srijit Mukherji will start from where ‘Baishey Srabon’ had left off and we will get to see Parambrata Chattopadhyay reprising the role of detective Abhijit Pakarashi and Raima Sen will relive her character Amrita, Abhijit’s love interest. Also, Abir Chatterjee will be returning with his role of Surya in a special appearance. Anirban Bhattacharya surprised everyone with his new look of Khoka, who is synonymous to violence. So is the character played Rwitobroto Mukherjee as he comes out of his boy-next-door avatar to deliver a fearsome image.

We have already seen them as a married couple in ‘Asur’ earlier this year, and now, Nusrat Jahan and Abir Chatterjee are once again teaming up in Bratya Basu’s next directorial. The film will also feature Bangladeshi actor Mosharraf Karim. Besides, Poulomi Basu and Arna Mukhopadhyay will also be seen in pivotal roles in this relationship drama titled ‘Dictionary’. It marks Bratya’s comeback as a director after his last offering ‘Tara’ in 2010. The film is expected to go on the floors by end of February.

Ritabhari Chakraborty’s next ‘Brahma Janen Gopon Kommoti’ which marks the directorial debut of Aritra Mukherjee sees the talented actress opposite Soham Majumder. The social drama has grabbed headlines ever since it was announced and has already locked its release date. If all goes according to plan, ‘Brahma Janen Gopon Kommoti’ will hit the big screens on Women’s Day 2020. The film questions why a woman can’t get into the kitchen or thakur ghor when she is having her periods. There are so many age-old myths we are following in this patriarchal society and the film opens the discussion among the audience centering on those beliefs.

Three years after ‘Bela Seshe’ became a runaway hit, director duo Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy are coming up with yet another love story-family drama ‘Belashuru’. The title may suggest it’s a sequel but the directors have already made it clear it’s neither a prequel nor a sequel to ‘Bela Seshe’. Earlier this week the first look of ‘Belashuru’ was dropped online to celebrate Soumitra Chatterjee’s birthday. The poster is no doubt a tribute to the thespian as you can see Soumitra combing his on-screen wife Swatilekha Sengupta’s hair.

Tota Roy Chowdhury is the newest entrant in the Bengali detective club as he will soon be seen as the iconic sleuth Feluda is Srijit Mukherji’s upcoming project ‘Feluda Pherot’. It will be based on the iconic Bong detective and there will be two popular stories, ‘Chhinomostar Obhishaap’ and ‘Joto Kando Kathmandute’. To double up the excitement among his fans, Srijit has now shared the first look of the trio and it looks like an all-win situation. While Tota as Feluda looks fresh and smart and Kalpan Mitra as Topesh seems to be the young learner. The most interesting this is Lalmohan Ganguly’s appearance and Anirban Chakraborty as the iconic character looks quite intelligent.

2020 will start with another interesting film where we would get to see Parambrata Chattopadhyay as a crime reporter. Titled ‘Shokuner Lov’, the upcoming thriller directed by Anindya Bikas Datta sees a crime reporter risking his life to solve a 16-year-old murder. Can he overcome the challenges on the way? What will the outcome be? The cast of the film is also an ensemble one. While Param will be seen as a crime reporter, Joy Sengupta plays a police officer. ‘Ghawre Bairey Aaj’ fame Tuhina Das plays the female lead. ‘Shokuner Lov’ will hit the theatres in February.

Tollywood’s two young acting powerhouses Rwitobroto Mukherjee and Riddhi Sen have been friends for long. Now, Rwitobroto will help Riddhi in his directorial debut ‘Cold Fire’. He will work as an associate director in the film. The preproduction of Cold Fire has started and the film will go on the floors in February. Based on Nabarun Bhattacharya’s short story, the film will feature Riddhi’s father Kaushik Sen and Somak Ghosh in pivotal roles.

Director duo Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy’s upcoming film is based on death and the loneliness of the old age. The film is titled as ‘Anthyesti.com’ which primarily talks about the lives of old people and their loneliness. Shiboprosad said that a few years ago he heard about Shruthi Reddy. With a vision to revolutionise the funeral sector, Shruthi began a unique service by providing live updates of the beloved’s mortal remains as it crosses multiple borders, ease the complete clearance and documentation processes and creating jobs in the funeral services industry in the form of hearse drivers, repatriation specialists , organ donation trainers, funeral helpers, funeral insurance providers and others.

Dhrubo Banerjee’s next ‘Golondaaz’ has already created a ripple on social media and why not! Tolly superstar Dev will be seen as Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari, the forgotten hero who is known to be the father of Indian football. Fans are keeping their fingers crossed about any update from the project and on Sunday, celebrating the Republic Day, the first-look motion poster from ‘Golondaaz’ was launched. The poster looks every bit intriguing and it will surely raise the excitement bar among football-crazy Bengalis. Beside Dev in the titular role, the film has an ensemble cast including Anirban Bhattacharya, Ishaa Saha, Indrashish Ray, Srikanta Acharya and John Bhattacharya in pivotal roles.

Jisshu Sengupta is set to share the screen with Bhumi Pednekar in the upcoming horror flick ‘Durgavati’ which is the Hindi remake of Telugu hit ‘Bhaagamathie’ that starred Anushka Shetty in the lead. The Tollywood hunk has already started shooting for the film being directed by G Ashok who also helmed the Telugu film. Durgavati is co-produced by Akshay Kumar, T-Series and Abundantia Entertainment and follows the story of an IAS officer trapped inside a haunted house, where she gets possessed by a spirit.