Bengali movies that redefined Prosenjit Chatterjee as an actor

Prosenjit Chatterjee- the iconic figure has literally been ruling Tollywood industry for the last three decades. Since his debut film ‘Amar Sangi’ in 1987, he has been the leading name in Bengali industry and still remains any director’s automatic choice. His love for parallel films has now become an obsession, with him giving so many successful mainstream commercial films. Having maintained the right balance between commercial and art films, Chatterjee still wins accolades and awards in both the genres. Here is a list of ten of the best performances which redefined Prosenjit as an actor.

It’s been one of the most important films in Prosenjit’s career. The popular star worked with renowned director Rituparno Ghosh is this 2000 hit which even received a national award the same year. On the backdrop of Durga Puja, the film showcases the varied emotional currents passing among a family and relatives. Some of the industry’s big names like Madhabi Mukherjee, Mamta Sankar and Rituparna Sengupta played key roles alongside Prosenjit in the film.

This film is based on Rabindranath Tagore’s famous novel of the same name. Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan also appeared in 'Chokher Bali' and it’s the one and only Bengali film she did throughout her illustrious film career. The social drama deals with widowhood, love and lust. The film was honoured with many international awards and recognition.

Directed by the late Rituparno Ghosh, the 2006 film stars Konkona Sen Sharma and Prosenjit Chatterjee in lead roles. The narrative follows the lives of Kaushik (Prosenjit Chatterjee) and Kaberi (Konkona Sen Sharma). Prosenjit received two awards for this black and white drama including the National Award - Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film) for his lead role portrayal and the Best Actor award at the Bengal Film Journalists Association Awards.

The ensemble cast of ‘Autograph’ includes Prosenjit Chatterjee along with Nandana Sen and Indranil Sengupta in lead roles. This melodrama was Srijit Mukherji’s directorial debut. Many believe it was a tribute to Satyajit Ray’s 1966 masterpiece ‘Nayak' which featured the iconic Bengali superstar Uttam Kumar. Chatterjee was awarded the 2010 MIAAC Best Actor honour for his outstanding acting in this film.

Prosenjit Chatterjee generated accolades for his outstanding portrayal of Lalan Fakir, legendary spiritual leader, poet and baul of the 19th century. The biographical musical drama also features Paoli Dam in the lead. The Gautam Ghose directorial received the Nargis Dutt Award for the Best Film on National Integration and also awarded the Best Film at the 41st International Film Festival of India held at Goa.

Prosenjit Chatterjee stunned everyone with his performance as an ex-cop in this psychological thriller directed by Srijit Mukherji. According to the narrative, Prabir, suspended from his duty, works with the chief investigating officer (Parambrata) to nab a serial killer committing murder and leaves couplets from popular Bengali poems as a clue. Prosenjit’s remarkable acting was highly acknowledged by both the critics and audience. ‘Baishe Srabon’ eventually became one of the highest grossing films of 2011.

Prosenjit was introduced in a new avatar, the lead character ‘Kakababu’ created by Sunil Gangopadhyay in this adventure thriller. Directed by Srijit Mukherji, this film also had Indraneil Sengupta, Swastika Mukherjee and Aryann Bhowmik in lead roles. The story revolves around a Hieroglyphic trail that leads Kakababu and Sontu to Egypt underneath a pyramid. It turned out to be one of the biggest hits of 2013 and achieved a strong cult following from the audience.

Directed by none other than Rituparno Ghosh, this period drama set in the 1920s is inspired by a novel by Rabindranath Tagore of the same name. Once again, this Bengali flick captured Prosenjit’s potential as a versatile actor as Bumba Da and broke the stereotype of a commercial hero. The ensemble cast also includes Jisshu Sengupta, Raima Sen and Riya Sen. Bollywood legend Subhash Ghai later produced the Hindi version of the film released in the same year titled as ‘Kashmakash’.

It was a great achievement for director duo Shiboprosad and Nandita to bring back one of the most romantic on-screen couples of Bengali cinema- Prosenjit and Rituparna. The 2016 hit showed how the former wife successfully disinfects the husband and churns out a better person out of him. She turns him into a romantic lovable husband for the second wife. Experience makes a person perfect. That’s what Prosenjit’s character deals with. His character goofed up the first marriage so the next time he tries his best not to repeat the same mistake and files for a divorce once again.

Aryanil (Prosenjit Chatterjee), a middle-aged man returns to Kolkata from Chicago to visit his father (Soumitra Chatterjee) who is now 83 years old and is suffering from geriatric dementia and cognitive dysfunction. This is arguably Prosenjit’s most subtle and muted performance after ‘Dosar’. Being tugged in many directions at the same time, his character endures a live-by-the-day existence. He sees his life without any shred of pleasure or hope whatsoever. The Atanu Ghosh directorial recently won the Chitra Bharathi- Best Indian Cinema award at the 10th Bengaluru International Film Festival.