Weekend roundup: Bengali films and celebs who made headlines this week

Whether it’s the controversy surrounding ‘Gumnaami’, Rudranil shooting for ‘Maidaan’, Pavel venturing into Bollywood, the sad demise of veteran actor Nimu Bhowmik or Swapna Barman biopic pushed back; it was a week full of rumours and exciting news from the Tollywood industry. Here is a quick look at Bengali cinema's some of the most exciting news of this week.

Debutant director Souvik Guha’s film ‘Buro Sadhu’ narrates a man’s journey from boyhood to manhood. With Ritwick Chakraborty and Ishaa Saha in the lead, the plot sees Abir as a boy next door who leads an ordinary life. But the circumstances that he finds himself in often are not so ordinary. When he finally achieves everything or dreams that he has achieved, a single encounter turns his world upside down, where his very existence will be questioned. While Ritwik Chakraborty plays Abir, Ishaa will be seen as Sweta, Abir’s love interest. Mishmi Das essays Abir’s first girlfriend. Dolon Roy, Debesh Chattopadhyay, Barun Chakraborty, Amit Saha will also be seen in pivotal roles. Interestingly, Chiranjit Chakraborty is playing a short but significant role in ‘Buro Sadhu’.

Like any other thriller, music has a significant role to play in Srijit Mukherji’s ‘Gumnaami’ and Indraadip Dasgupta is the man in charge of the soundtrack along with the background score of highly anticipated Puja release. Srijit Mukherji, the director of ‘Gumnaami’, gave a sneak peek into the four songs. “The music in this film is a nice experiment. Perhaps, for the first time, I have chosen songs which have always existed deeply rooted in our culture. Like, the classic patriotic song ‘Dhono Dnanne Pushpe Bhora’. Then we have ‘Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja’, the glorious marching anthem of Indian National Army – lyrics that always inspire us. We have opted for two marquee songs ‘Subhashji Subhasji by Sonu Nigam and lastly the ‘Sab Sukh Chayan Ki Barkha Barse’ – it’s the Hindi transliteration of the Indian National Anthem done by Netaji and his associates from Jana Gana Mana beautifully sung by Babul Supriyo,” revealed Srijit.

Haranath Chakraborty is making a hardcore thriller starring Ritwick Chakraborty, Parno Mittra and Ranjit Mallick in the lead. The film has been shot extensively in Kolkata and Kalimpong. The plot follows a married couple played by Ritwick Chakraborty and Parno Mittra. While Ritwick essays a scriptwriter, Parno will be seen as a school teacher. They visit Kalimpong for a much-needed vacation and book a bungalow which is rumored to be a haunted house. During their stay, they experience some paranormal activities in that house and it leads to murder. Then enters an investigating officer who investigates the murder and the mystery surrounding the house. Ranjit Mallick will play the character of the investigating officer. Other than these three actors in the lead, there will be Anindya Pulak Bandopadhyay, Priyanka Mandal and Soham Majumdar in key roles.

Rudranil Ghosh is all set for his Bollywood debut with Amit Sharma’s upcoming biopic ‘Maidaan’ featuring Ajay Devgn in the lead. Based on the glorious chapter of Indian football from 1952 to 1962, it will see Devgn as Indian football coach and manager Syed Abdul Rahim. Rudranil will be seen as Shubhankar, an important member of the Football Federation.

Rudra has already started shooting for the film and on Tuesday he shared a candid picture with his co-star Gajraj Rao from the sets. The seasoned actor was first approached for the role earlier this March. First, the offer came for a small role, but later the director changed his mind after going through Rudranil’s audition tape. Interestingly, the ‘Vinci Da’ actor’s look test lasted for almost nine hours.

It’s no doubt a proud moment for the young generation filmmakers of Bengal. Pavel, who has made films like ‘Babar Naam Gandhiji’ and ‘Rosogolla’ and currently shooting for his next ‘Asur’ starring Jeet, Abir Chatterjee and Nusrat Jahan has now forayed into Bollywood. The talented filmmaker has penned the story of Ayushmann Khurana’s next film ‘Bala’ which also stars Bhumi Pednekar and Yami Gautam.

He took to his Twitter handle to share the good news: “My first Hindi film..new place new work new dreams.. Thanks maddock films, Amar ji, jaspreet , Vivek , ayush Bhai , sarda, dino ji, kunjal Bhai & every single person who have kept faith on me. #Bala #AyushmannKhurrana”

Veteran Bengali actor Nimu Bhowmik who portrayed crucial character roles in several Bengali classics like 'Ganadebata', 'Baghini' and 'Dadar Kirti' among others passed away at his residence in Kolkata on Tuesday after a prolonged illness. Nimu Bhowmik died of cardiac arrest at 4 PM. He was 84 and is survived by a daughter. The renowned actor was admitted to a city hospital because of stomach ailments in July. Born on November 14, 1935, in Dinajpur district of undivided Bengal, he a favourite actor for noted directors like Tarun Majumder and appeared in more than 60 films.

Amid all the controversies here’s a piece of good news for Srijit Mukherji. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has passed his next ‘Gumnaami’ with a U certificate. The thriller which has been in the eye of the storm since day one passed the censor with zero cuts.

Sharing the good news with his fans and followers, Srijit wrote on Twitter, "It also maintains that the film deals with the theories debated at the Mukherjee Commission Hearings and is objective, balanced, non-distortive and non-judgemental in its approach. It also maintains the title Gumnaami meaning unknown, (and not Gumnaami Baba) applies equally to the mystery surrounding all three theories and need not be changed."

Celebrating the 56th Birth Anniversary of Rituparno Ghosh on August 31, Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan is set to unveil the poster of Ram Kamal Mukherjee's ‘Season's Greetings’, starring Celina Jaitly and Lillette Dubey in the lead. In spite of his busy schedule, the legendary actor not only agreed to unveil the look of the film, but also recorded a special video message for director Ram Kamal and his team. The film happens to be India's first feature film to collaborate with United Nations Free and Equal for LGBTQIA cause.

Srijit Mukherji whose next ‘Gumnaami’ is grabbing the headlines almost every day is supposed to make a biopic on Swapna Barman, who became India's first-ever heptathlete to win a gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games.

Srijit had earlier announced Sohini Sarkar will be seen Swapna. However, things are not looking good for the biopic. According to industry sources, Sohini will be undergoing a ligament operation soon. So it will be difficult for her to prep up for the sports biopic. Srijit is also planning to have a chat with Swapna Barman’s coach whether Sohini will be able to do a rigorous training post-operation.

Chandan Roy Sanyal who has two Bengali films, ‘Deep Six’ and ‘Bhalobashar Sohor’, in the pipeline right now will soon be seen playing a crucial character of an investigating officer in an upcoming psychological thriller. It’s an intriguing psychological thriller against the backdrop of a small town in Shimla and the seasoned actor will play an investigative officer Rawat, who is handling murder case. "The character I am playing is very different, and it is always satisfying for an actor to play such intriguing roles. My character, Inspector Rawat has a lot of layers to its personality and comes in grey shades. I am completely in love with the story and had a great experience shooting for the same," reveals Chandan.