From ‘Uma’ to ‘Ek Je Chhilo Raja’: The highest rated Bengali movie trailers of 2018

Just like the movies stormed the Box Office, the trailers of these Bengali films this year also turned out to be big hits on Youtube and social media. Be it the flamboyance and intrigue binding us over to comic reliefs and emotions making us impatient, trailers in 2018 has been quite rapturous to say the least. Just as the intense trailers of ‘Ek Je Chhilo Raja’ and ‘Kishore Kumar Junior’ came out recently, we thought it’s time to make a short list of the highest rated trailers that released this year.

The ‘Reunion’ trailer is here and it will surely bring back the memories of your college days. Murari M Rakshit’s film traces the nostalgia deep inside our daily struggle. Beside Parambrata-Raima’s adorable on-screen chemistry, it’s also the story of a student politician Rudra, his escapades and the mystery he left behind.

https://youtu.be/j3jmX1p4ciA

Against the backdrop of 90s West Bengal, ‘Reunion’ deals with politics and its effects on the students but that’s not all. Nostalgia has a key role to play in the narrative. The story sees a group of University students from the 1995 batch and their reunion after almost 20 years. As the group finally meets, they find out one of their senior (Parambrata) is now in a village near Darjeeling as he decides to dedicate his life to the villagers in the hilly area. Raima will be seen as an independent lady Monideepa who had a crush on Parambrata’s character in her college life.

The Bengali movie buffs are all set for a treat this Durga Puja, with their iconic Satyanweshi to arrive on October 12 and Abir Chatterjee to be seen as Byomkesh Bakshi once again in Arindam Sil’s ‘Byomkesh Gowtro’. The official trailer of Byomkesh Gowtro has already sent the social media into a tizzy with everyone going gaga over it. Inspired by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay's ‘Rakter Daag’, the official trailer starts with a 'lovely triangle', that’s what Byomkesh Bakshi quotes as he mentions his wife Satyabati (introducing Sohini Sarkar), himself as Satyanweshi, and Satyakam (Arjun Chakrabarty’s Casanova look). While Rahul Banerjee has been roped in to play Ajit Bandyopadhyay for the first time replacing Ritwick Chakraborty in this detective thriller, Priyanka Sarkar, Anjan Dutt, Indrashish Roy, Anindita Bose, Joydip Kundu and others play pivotal roles.

The trailer of Aniket Chattopadhyay’s next ‘Hoichoi unlimited’ is finally out and without revealing much details about the plot it rather concentrates on showing the fun-filled hilarious scenes from the comedy caper. The trailer starts with an announcement about a twist in the hijack of an aircraft from Kolkata to Mumbai. Next we see, Dev’s character is about to commit suicide from the terrace of a high rise, while his friends (Saswata Chatterjee, Kharaj Mukherjee and Arna Mukhopadhyay) are already hanging from it. Suddenly Rajatabha Dutta, a priest, enters the scene and advises them to “have their life serviced”. The four partners in crime then plan a trip to Uzbekistan. The trailer further offers a few comic snippets about Kharaj Mukherjee’s confusion over his ‘two wives’. Dev’s wife (Koushani Mukherjee), daughter of a rich business tycoon, informs him her father has decided to get her married once again to someone else and from now on Dev is not allowed in her home. What happens next forms the crux of the film.

Kaushik Ganguly’s ‘drishtikone’ saw Prosenjit Chatterjee in a completely different look and as the trailer introduced Prosenjit in half-blind avatar, fans were left in awe. The trailer weaved around a great amount of suspense which formed the perfect platform to make the romantic thriller an instant hit. ‘Drishtikone’ revolves around a lawyer Jiyan (played by Prosenjit) and his client Srimati (played by Rituparna) who have to stay in touch for years as a case drags on. The twisting love story portrays how their professional relationship turns personal over time. The narrative, with matured dialogues really tugs at the heartstrings despite being an interesting thriller. The way director Kaushik Ganguly has treated the storyline and brilliant performances from all the artistes has made this Bengali drama a must watch.

Being an emotional drama and especially its connection to the Canadian boy Evan who moved Christmas, ‘Uma’ garnered an overwhelming response from the beginning. The official trailer of this Srijit Mukherji directorial added the needed flavour to it encapsulating the main theme. The trailer shows Himadri (Jisshu Sengupta), the father of his terminally ill daughter, employing the help of a group of people in Kolkata, including a troubled filmmaker (Anjan Dutt), to organise Durga Puja. The negative characters of a self-appointed cultural protector (Anirban Bhattacharya) who is not happy with the early staging and a goon played by Babul Supriyo, intensifies the adrenaline rush.

The trailer looked every bit intriguing as it showed an aged Byomkesh Bakshi, an image of the famous sleuth that Bengalis love to talk all the times. In the film, Abir Chatterjee, who has portrayed the detective in a number of Byomkesh films, plays a double role. He essays both, the octogenarian Satyanweshi and his grandson Satyaki. The trailer starts with showing the birth year of Byomkesh and the names of many Byomkesh stories. The story is all about the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Byomkesh’s son. The more the sleuth delves into the disappearance of his son he gets overburdened with emotion and nostalgia of his past escapades. Abir in his aged look seemed unrecognizable and attracted record-setting views on social media.

‘Haami’ walks down the memory lane showing the innocent curiosities of kids, their friendships and the school life. It speaks on issues which sometimes dismantle a child's psyche while referring to the recent incidents of sexual harassment in schools. The film also speaks on the lack of trust between the parents and schools. The trailer of this Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy directorial clearly hinted the film not only try to portray the increasing insecurities and fear of the parents, but also highlights the plight that the teachers and the school committee members endure when such incidents happen. The social satire became one of the biggest blockbusters of 2018.

The treasure quest of ‘Guptodhoner Sondhane’ is equally mysterious, thrilling and adventurous, that’s what the trailer suggested and when the film opened at theatres critics and fans kept showering praises on the entire team. Starring Abir Chatterjee in the lead, the narrative revolves around professor Subarna Sen AKA Sona Da's adventure in search of a long lost treasure. Ishaa Saha and Arjun Chakraborty essay his sidekicks and companions in his quest. To see a dashing Abir as a history professor doubled the excitement and the overwhelming response the trailer received proved exactly the same. The film also raked good numbers.

A modern day romantic comedy submerged in traditional Bengali sensibilities, ‘Ghare And Baire’ has Jisshu Sengpta, Koel Mullick, Biswanath Basu and Aparajita Adhya in pivotal roles. The trailer gave a sneak peek into the sweet chemistry between Amit (Jishhu Sengupta) and Labanya (Koel Mallick) who are long-time friends, but are still to understand their love for each other. Despite their contrasting personalities, their love for Rabindranath Tagore, his evergreen songs and attachment to Bengali culture don’t’ let them grow apart.

‘Asche Abar Shabor’, the third film of the popular franchise ‘Goyenda Shabor’ revolves around a series of brutal murders and sex crimes. With the help of his two sidekicks Nanda (Subhrajit Dutta) and Sanjeev (Gaurav Chakraborty), Shabor Dasgupta this time finds the root of violent crime in Kolkata, Chandannagar and Lucknow. The interesting plot of this crime thriller guides a motivated Shabor in a maze of sex, dirty affairs, crazy obsessions, betrayal in relationship and bizarre superstitions. Eventually he nabs the killer in a tricky crime-thriller plot twist. After the success of ‘Ebar Shabor’ (2015) and ‘Eagoler Chokh’ (2016), as soon as the trailer of the third installment released, it became talk of the town paving the much-awaited theatrical release.

The official trailer of ‘Ek Je Chhilo Raja’ sent the industry into a tizzy with the fans and film fraternity going gaga over it. Based on the sensational Bhawal Sanyasi court case, the period film grabbed headlines ever since it was announced. The trailer starting with a court room sequence in monochrome reveals in bits and pieces what the film is all about. While Anjan Dutt and Aparna Sen engage in a legal battle as the two dignified lawyers over the true identity of a man who claims himself to be Maharaja Mahendra Kumar Chowdhury, it intensifies the mystery surrounding the most intriguing royal courtroom battle in history. Jisshu Sengupta as the titular character literally steals the show. Jaya Ahsan, Rudranil Ghosh, Anirban Bhattacharya are introduced playing significant roles in this period drama.

Porsenjit Chatterjee got flooded by the overwhelming responses from everywhere for his next ‘Kishore Kumar Junior’ as the trailer looked every bit intriguing. The musical drama narrates the story of a ‘Kishore Kanthi’ (one who sings and performs popular hits of Kishore Kumar) played by Prosenjit Chatterjee. Perhaps, no one could have done more justice to the titular character in this film than Prosenjit, as his debut film, ‘Pratisodh’ (1981), had a superhit song by Kishore Kumar himself. The trailer gives a fairy tale like introduction to the musical film paying tribute to a legend. Soon, an announcement, declares Kishore Kumar Junior and his touring party has gone missing. His son is stunned to receive the news that his parents are missing since they departed from the Jaisalmer airport. What happens next forms the crux of the film.