Weekend roundup: Tollywood's top newsmakers of the week

If you have missed the exciting news, gossip or latest developments that made headlines in Tollywood this week, here is a weekly roundup for you. Take a look:

Weekend Roundup: Tollywood’s top newsmakers of the week

Earlier this week rumours started doing the rounds that Jisshu Sengupta is set to play the villain in ‘Pushpa 2’. The media reports made Jisshu’s fans all too excited. However, the truth is he's not a part of the much-anticipated Allu Arjun film. ETimes reached out to a source close to Jisshu and she has confirmed the news. “All those reports that claimed that Jisshu U Sengupta is playing the villain in the ‘Pushpa’ sequel are baseless. I can confirm that he’s not a part of ‘Pushpa: The Rule’. You can quote me on this,” the actor’s manager exclusively told ETimes.

The rejection of a film inspired by the story behind the making of Satyajit Ray’s ‘Pather Panchali’ from the Indian Panorama of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) has created a controversy. Anik Dutta ‘Aparajito’ didn't make it to the final 25 from the 354 qualifying contemporary Indian feature films. Many have raised their voice especially when two other Bengali films — Arindam Sil ‘Mahananda’ starring Gargee Roy Chowdhury and Avijit Sen’s ‘Tonic’ starring Dev (mainstream cinema section) — got selected.

Kaushik Ganguly's much-awaited film ‘Kaberi Antardhan’ and Srijato's directorial debut ‘Manabjomin’ will be releasing in January next year. While Kaushik's film has already locked the January 20 release date, the exact release date of Srijato's film hasn't yet been announced. ‘Kaberi Antardhan’, starring Prosenjit Chatterjee, Srabanti Chatterjee, Kaushik Sen, Churni Ganguly, Ambarish Bhattacharya and others, the film is set against the backdrop of the infamous Emergency era in '70s Bengal. Meanwhile, 'Manabjomin, featuring Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Priyanka Sarkar and Paran Bandopadhyay in the lead, is a relationship story and all those people associated with it.

Tathagata Mukherjee’s recently announced film ‘Pariah’ will see actor Vikram Chatterjee in a completely different avatar. It’s a story of a reclusive young man and how he gets involved in a mysterious case of missing street dogs. The interesting aspect of the plot is how he becomes a savior of the pariah dogs. Vikram’s ragged look and physical transformation for the film has already raised quite a few eyebrows and fans are super excited to see him in this never-seen-before avatar.

Abir Chatterjee has been diagnosed with Dengue. He’s undergoing treatment at home and recovering well. Abir’s wife Nandini Chatterjee has revealed that the ‘Karnasubarner Guptodhon’ actor was down with fever for the past few days. When consulted their family physician Abir was advised a blood test by the doctor. The report came on Monday night and it confirmed that the actor has dengue. However, his condition is stable and the popular actor is on complete rest. Slight fever is still there but the doctor has assured that there’s nothing to worry and he right needs proper rest to recover.

Not only his Bollywood debut ‘Yaariyan 2’ opposite Divya Khosla Kumar but Yash Dassguptaa has more exciting news lined up for fans. Two of his upcoming Bengali films will see the actor pairing up with the love of his life Nusrat Jahan and for the first time Ditipriya Roy. Both the films will be bankrolled by a well-known Kolkata production house whose warehouse recently had a fire incident. Due the damage of their equipment the schedules have been delayed a bit.
Yash will shoot the two films in London and Scotland. The film which has Yash and Nusrat in the lead will be directed by Sayantan Ghosal. The plot revolves around the complexities in relationship and how travel impacts the two protagonists’ lives. The Yash-Ditipriya film will be directed by Robin Nambiar.

Government of India has officially recognized his critically acclaimed film ‘Avijatrik’ as the sequel to Satyajit Ray's classic ‘Apu Trilogy’. Starring Arjun Chakrabarty, Arpita Chatterjee, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, Ditipriya Roy and others in key roles, ‘Avijatrik’ is based on Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s novel Aparajito. Starring Arjun Chakrabarty as Apu, the film takes off where Satyajit Ray concluded his Apu Trilogy. Director Subhrajit Mitra has depicted Apu’s loneliness and quest for rejuvenation in an artistic manner on the big screen.

Avijit Sen’s Tonic and Arindam Sil’s Mahananda will be screened at the 53rd International Film Festival of India 2022 in the Indian Panorama segment. This year the festival is scheduled to be held from November 20 to 28in Goa.
Tonic, starring Dev and Paran Bandopadhyay, garnered praises for its simple and heartwarming storytelling. The film tells the story of an ageing couple who experience adventure and bliss on their vacation, with the help of an exuberant travel agent named Tonic.

Meanwhille, Mahananda, starring Gargee Roychowdhury, follows a young PhD student who wants to pursue research on the life and works of writer and activist Mahasweta Devi.