Sayani Gupta returns to Bengali cinema with a slice-of-life drama

Actor-turned-director Soumyajit Majumder, who is busy editing his debut directorial, ‘Homecoming’ – A love letter to Kolkata’, was stuck in Mumbai during the lockdown last year. The film, which the director says has a new style of storytelling called ‘episodic cinema’, stars Sayani Gupta, Soham Majumdar, Plabita Borthakur, Hussain Dalal, Tushar Pandey and Tuhina Das, among others.Speaking about the cast, Soumyajit said Sayani Gupta’s zeal and dedication was inspiring. “She’s so well prepared for her shots! There was hardly a second take when she was shooting. We developed an instant connection when we met to collaborate for the film,” he shared with ETimes during an exclusive chat. Describing the film as a cosmopolitan coming-of-age feature, Soumyajit said that he had quite an experience in Mumbai while he was editing the portions already shot. “I shot the first half in Kolkata between February 15 and 25, and then went to Mumbai to edit the portions. But soon, the lockdown was announced. I was stuck in a Mumbai hotel for five months! I resumed work on June 15. When I came back I started editing the remaining portions we shot. We completed the final schedule of shooting in mid January,” he said, adding that musician Neil Mukherjee is doing the film’s background score.