Weekend roundup: Rituparna, Mimi and other Bengali celebs who made the headlines this week

The coronavirus pandemic has swept away Tollywood just like other film industries worldwide and India. Be it celebs interacting with fans on social media or release of Bengali industy’s own short film to raise funds, if you have missed the exciting news, gossips or latest developments that have rocked Bengali cinema this week, here is a weekly roundup for you. Take a look:

The entire country is currently under lockdown. At a time when going to the theatre is a distant dream, Windows has come up with a short film series - 'Lockdown Shorts'. These are content-driven short films dealing with the lockdown. The first short film ‘Hing’ which stars Aparajita Auddy and Manali Manisha Dey, has been shot entirely while staying at home. ‘Hing’ is a story of two sisters. While a working lady played by Manali regrets why she hasn’t learnt cooking, her elder sister played by Aparajita is a homemaker and Manali’s character reaches out to her to learn some easy recipes. The elder sister teaches her how to cook daal with hing and at the same time shows homemaking is also an art. The key to a family’s happiness is a housewife but often they don’t get the respect they deserve.

The news of a short film titled ‘Jhhar Themey Jabe Akdin’ had grabbed eyeballs ever since it was announced. Conceptualized by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and directed by Arindam Sil, the short is finally out. It has been made to raise funds for daily-wage earners and technicians of Tollywood. Starring all the bigwigs like Prosenjit Chatterjee, Rituparna Sengupta, Nusrat Jahan, Paran Bandopadhyay, Abir Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Rukmini Maitra, Koel Mallick, Subhasree Ganguly and Mimi Chakraborty, ‘Jhhar Themey Jabe Akdin’ also backs the Bengal government in its fight against COVID-19. With the nationwide lockdown extended, every shot of the actors has been taken individually from their respective homes to ensure social distancing.

Actor-MP Mimi Chakraborty is constantly coordinating from home with her team, who has already delivered masks and sanitisers to the people in Sonarpur. Mimi also extended her help towards the Cha Kaku aka aka Mridul Deb, who was brutally trolled on Janta Curfew day. She has helped him financially and also gave ration and took care of his son’s education. And now Mimi has done something special. Besides doing puja on Poila Baishakh, Mimi made 120 kids smile in a unique way. On Bengali New Year, Mimi sent clothes, and food items to 120 specially-abled kids and children who have HIV at the Sonarpur Langalberia Anandaghar Foundation. Mimi also spoke to them on video conference and promised them after the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown is over, she will meet the kids.

Once the nationwide lockdown is over, shoot for an upcoming short film will kick-start. Titled ‘Mamata’, it’s a slice-of-a-life tale of a mother-son relationship. While Mamata Shankar will be seen as the mother, talented actor Ishaan Mazumder will play the son. The short film will be directed by Rudrajit Roy who by profession is attached to the critical care unit of a city private hospital. Rudrajit had earlier made another short film ‘Chasing My Dream’ which had also received rave reviews winning as many as 22 international awards. Meanwhile, according to the director, the story of ‘Mamata’ won’t be a typical mother-son tale as we have seen in Bengali cinema over the years. There will be twists in the narrative.

During these lockdown days, tabla maestro Bickram Ghosh keeps himself busy and productive as always. He has now come up with a series, ‘Out of the Box’, which features short percussion performances on Facebook. The series has been shot by his wife, Jaya Seal Ghosh, a renowned dancer herself. In these video, you can see two versions of Bickram Ghosh. Getting confused? Well, that’s the entire idea! While Bickramuddin plays traditional tabla, Bickram Sundar can be seen playing the other instrument. Together, they form a virtual jugalbandi. The series has garnered a lot of attention.

While many celebrities and animal lovers are sharing videos asking people to do as much as they can to help the animals survive during this lockdown, our very own, Tollywood queen Rituparna Sengupta has an important message to share. The pretty actress' love for animals is known to many and now the celebrated actress has urged everyone to be kind to the stray animals around us.

“Now, at this point of time, at this need of the hour and crisis we really really need to take care of our pets and the animals around us. Please don’t abandon your pets at this point of time because they need us, they need our help, they need our kindness, love sympathy. A little bit of food from what we are having if you can give them they will survive. We need our pets to survive. So, please be kind to them, feed them and please don’t abuse them,” requested Rituparna while speaking about the incidents she has seen since the lockdown was enforced.