Swastika Mukherjee and Rituparno Ghosh on the sets of 3 Banamali Naskar Lane. Picture by Aranya Sen

After Antarmahal, Rituparno Ghosh is back with yet another story from the inner chamber. But 3 Banamali Naskar Lane is for the small screen, despite being shot on 16 mm.

At the centre of the drama is a domesticated, unmarried woman (Soma Chakraborty) of a bonedi family, stuck in a life mundane. It?s only when her urbanised Delhi-based cousin (Swatika Mukherjee) comes down that she gets a whiff of the outside world. The story of ?a woman getting back her self-esteem? also features Shankar Chakraborty, Pushpita, Chitra Sen and Gita De. On Wednesday, the crew shot at Lahabari on Rammohun Roy Sarani.

3 Banamali Naskar Lane, slated for a New Year airing on the Robbarer Bioscope slot on Zee Bangla, will be the first in an 11-telefilm series planned by Ideas for the channel. Other directors chosen for the project are Anindya Banerjee, Anindya Sarkar, Atanu Ghosh and Abhijit Guha-Sudeshna Roy. The series will also see a few unlikely faces foraying into direction ? superstar Prosenjit, cinematographer Abhik Mukhopadhyay and actor Saswata Chatterjee.

Roopa in Krantikaal

Crisis point

?I feel cinema has a social responsibility apart from being just entertainment,? says Sekhar Das, ready with his second feature film after his much-applauded Mahulbonir Sereng. Starring Roopa Ganguly, Shilajit and Soumitra Chatterjee, Krantikaal (Critical Encounter) releases on Friday at Nandan. Krantikaal received the national award for the best regional film.

Based on the eponymous story by Prafulla Roy, the film zeroes in on some pertinent questions about the rise of terrorism and the factors that have contributed to its growth. The drama unfolds in a span of 48 hours with an armed terrorist storming a decadent princely household to escape the police. The encounter between the former royals and the fugitive brings forth issues of democracy and feudalism, of strife, tolerance and non-violence.