Kaushik Ganguly, Sudipta Chakraborty and Anjan Dutt at the EBM launch in Tollygunge Club. Picture by Aranya Sen

Coming soon: Lolita and A Streetcar Named Desire — as Bangla telefilms!

To commemorate its tenth year, ETV Bangla has joined hands with Tolly filmmakers Anjan Dutt and Kaushik Ganguly for a series of 12 telefilms (starting June 6, every Sunday at 7.30pm) under its newly launched ETV Bangla Movies (EBM).

“The Bangla films that are released at the theatres are not enough to satiate the movie-going audience that we have today. There are also many in the audience who do not like going to the theatres but prefer to watch telefilms at home,” said Anjan.

Among the 12 odd telefilms — six apiece by Anjan and Kaushik — will be “experiments” with Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial novel Lolita and the Tennessee Williams classic A Streetcar Named Desire. “Many years ago, Mrinalda (Sen) and I had progressed quite a bit in making Lolita, but unfortunately that project fell through. I am glad that I have realised my dream of making Lolita through the EBM initiative,” added Anjan.

Both Anjan and Kaushik insist that the telefilms have been made using state-of-the-art equipment and will surprise the viewer with their high production values. “We got complete creative freedom while making these films.... I started out making telefilms and over the years, I have had many in the audience asking me why I wasn’t making telefilms anymore. In fact, some believe that my telefilms are better than my films,” laughed Kaushik.

The first to go on air is Kaushik’s Bandhabi, starring Churni Ganguly and Chandreyee Ghosh as two women who have been in love with the same man once.

ETV is planning a theatrical release of at least six of the 12 telefilms, while all the films will be made available in the DVD format. “We have tied up with UFO Moviez to screen the promos of these telefilms in 60-70 screens in the city and its suburbs,” said Rajarshi Dey, the channel’s programming head.