(From top) Stills from Arekta Premer Golpo, 033, Aalive and Risk

Are you hooked on edge-of-the-seat thrillers? Would you like to watch a movie about terrorists who draw up a dastardly plan to attack a big event in Calcutta? Or, would you prefer to watch an emotional drama about a filmmaker and a cinematographer who link up to make a documentary and tumble into a gay relationship?

The Bengali film world has come a long way in recent years. Movies are being made about urban-oriented themes that would once have been taboo and also financially disastrous. “There have been paradigm shifts in our social behaviour. New patterns, dynamics and themes are a part of our life and we have to register them in our films,” says director Suman Mukhopadhyay, who has just made a film Mahanagar@Kolkata which, as the name suggests, revolves around the city.

The latest offerings reflect the burgeoning interests of the thriving Bengali middle class. Take a look through the lens at 033, a film about a group of youngsters who get together and form a band named after the city’s STD code. The GenX kids in the movie are determined to prove that it’s possible to make a life in Calcutta and that you don’t have to emigrate to Delhi, Mumbai or Bangalore.

If you’re not into urban youngsters trying to scrape up a living from their music, how about a film that leaves the city behind and heads into the jungle with a group of Maoist guerrillas? Young director Subhrajit Mitra calls his film Agun Pakhi a ‘jungle movie’. Made at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore, the film is about how a group of people stumble into becoming guerrillas and their life beyond the reach of the law. Mitra’s earlier movie Mon Amour: Shesher Kobita Revisited was a reinterpretation of Tagore’s Shesher Kobita.

But most directors prefer to keep the focus on themes that will instantly appeal to urban audience. For instance, director Kaushik Ganguly’s last release Jackpot dealt with a subject that has become one of the eyeball- catchers of the last decade — a reality show and its contestants.

Kaushik Ganguly found an actor as well as a production designer in Rituparno Ghosh for Arekta Premer Golpo

Even romance has been given an urban and very NewGen twist. Jodi Bolo Hyan directed by Birsa Dasgupta (and co-written by Ansuman Chakraborty) will be about a thoroughly modern couple who decide that their careers are more important than their relationship but eventually fall back in love. Shooting for this movie is scheduled to start in April.

Alternatively, how about a murder mystery suspense thriller? Former Balaji Telefilms hands Ajay Singh and Sudipto Ghatak, have made psycho-thriller Aalive, which is currently at the post-production stage and is slated for release in March. It’s all about a murderer who tortured his victims and it’s based on gory real life killings. The main protagonist is played by Victor Banerjee. “There is an animal instinct inside every human being which comes to the forefront when put under extreme situations. That is what we wanted to bring out,” says Ghatak.

The directors making these movies include many well-known names in the Bengali film world like Kaushik Ganguly, Riingo and Suman Mukhopadhyay. Says Mukhopadhyay: “Contemporary filmmakers are talking about themes which we would not have thought of even five years back.”

Birsa Dasgupta’s 033 is about a band Pix: Rashbehari Das

Adds Riingo: “Viewers are now open to numerous ideas after being exposed to the Internet and television. And this is what is giving us a window to explore new genres.” Riingo who released Risk in late November, is now about to release Jodi Ekdin, which is about a relationship of a different sort. He adds: “Relationship is an age-old genre. But the kind of relationship being portrayed is different here. We are speaking on things which were not so accepted by the society, like a live-in relationship.”

Kaushik Ganguly insists that times have changed and that it’s crucial for him to make movies with different themes. He has made movies like Brake Fail, a comedy, and telefilms like Collage, which starred Nandita Das, Ushno-Tar Jonno and Atithi. His first film Waaris was about a love triangle. Says Ganguly: “If I keep making the same kind of films with the same kind of subjects, they will all look the same. If I make five movies, they should all have different themes. A filmmaker should remain unpredictable.”

Aalive is a psycho-thriller by Ajay Singh (left) and Sudipto Ghatak

That view is echoed by younger directors like Subhrajit Mitra. What makes him steer away from run-of-the-mill subjects? “I grew up watching European and Hollywood movies and could never associate with mainstream Bengali cinema. What is happening in mainstream cinema is picturised nautanki. That is not ‘cinema’,” says the 34-year-old.

Similarly Birsa Dasgupta is making sure he’s playing with different themes, making 033 about a band and following it with an offbeat love story, Jodi Bolo Hyan for which shooting will start soon.

But it isn’t only the directors who are turning to new filmy horizons. Even the producers are coming round to the view that audiences are looking out for something new. “Even so-called commercial films aren’t working nowadays. The audience wants something new and different. A lot of educated people, mostly college students, have started watching Bengali films,” says Arijit Biswas, CEO, Arijit Films, which has produced movies like Hello Memsaheb and Risk.

Riingo’s Jodi Ekdin portrays a ‘different sort’ of relationship

Other directors and producers are thinking on a grander scale altogether and hoping to take the newer theme movies outside Bengal. Joy Ganguly, executive director, Moxie Entertainment, says 033 will be released simultaneously in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Besides that, Moxie has tied up with 10 brands to promote the film and the music will be downloadable as ringtones.

Ganguly too feels that these movies are economically viable, which is why producers have now turned towards them. “If presented and distributed well, they make money. But as with every film, there is a high risk factor. We try to mitigate this by selling rights (music, home video, satellite, overseas rights etc),” he says.

However, obviously, the target audience for these films is mostly urban and semi-urban. But the producers are enhancing their returns by using new tactics like distributing a large number of prints simultaneously. So, the film Risk was released all over Bengal on 65 screens. Says Arijit Biswas of Arijit Films: “We tried to bring in the mass audience to see how they react (to a different theme). It did well in cities but not so well in the rural belt.” The movie, made on a budget of Rs 90 lakh, is still making money from selling several rights and is expected to more than recover its investment.

Similarly, Suvojit Roy, CEO Orion Entertainment, will be releasing Jodi Ekdin on 50 screens across Bengal, including at the multiplexes. “We are looking at producing content driven films for the educated class. So from a college professor to a CEO to students — they are all my target. Also, the music has to be very strong. You can’t lose money on content driven films made with small budgets,” he says.

Suman Mukhopadhyay, who made Mahanagar@Kolkata recently, believes that the paradigm shifts in our social behaviour must be reflected in our films Pix:Rashbehari Das

One reason why movies aimed at urban audiences are suddenly being made is because there are more multiplex screens where such films can be shown. In recent years new multiplexes have opened in towns and cities across Bengal. Inox, for instance, has four screens in Siliguri, another four in Durgapur and three in Burdwan.

Some producers and directors also believe they’ve got to change track because the audience is looking for something new. “The audiences in Calcutta and other towns are now exposed to world cinema and therefore have disowned mainstream movies which are seen as an embarrassment. But the New Age movies are forcing even mainstream cinema to change track,” says Kaushik Ganguly.

“A section of filmmakers are trying to bring in a change. With more and more educated people coming into the industry, filmmaking is becoming more of a career option. And efforts are therefore in to bring in a change,” says Subhrajit Mitra.

Subhrajit Mitra’s Agun Pakhi is a ‘jungle movie’ Pix:Rashbehari Das

Getting these movies off the ground can still be a tough game. Kaushik Ganguly’s new film Arekta Premer Golpo about a gay relationship has director Rituparno Ghosh play director to Indraneil Sengupta’s cinematographer (the movie’s slated to travel to the Berlin Film Festival in the second week of February and will be up for commercial release as soon as it finishes showing on the festival circuit.) Says Kaushik Ganguly: “I might not have got a producer had Rituparno not acted in the film.” Besides acting, Rituparno has also served as production designer in Arekta Premer Golpo, made on a budget of approximately Rs 1.5 crore and shot in Calcutta and Bolpur.

Finally, of course, it all depends on whether the newer themed movies can bring the big bucks rolling in. “If these movies get financial success then more people will come in to do different kinds of movies and producers will also be more confident about putting in their money,” adds Mitra.

But there’s plenty more offbeat stuff on its way. So while Riingo has already thought of a horror movie based on a Stephen King novel and a children’s adventure film as his next projects, Kaushik Ganguly is busy penning a script based on religion. And Birsa Dasgupta is considering a project loosely titled Cinemawallah, about an old theatre that is revived for one night by a bunch of slum hooligans.

Not everyone is penning a new script yet, but the way the Bengali film industry is changing, that day is not too far away.