The latest to bridge the gap between business and film production is Punorutthan producer Apurba Saha. The Victor Banerjee-Rituparna Sengupta-starrer marks Saha’s return to Tollywood after seven years. His first two productions were Mayer Anchal and Paribar, starring Prosenjit in both, in 2004.

Saha decided to produce Punorutthan when he found the students of Pailan Film & Television Institute, Joka, jobless despite holding a degree from the institute.

“I decided to make my own films and give our students a chance. Earlier, there were only acting courses in my institute; now we have introduced editing, camera and recording. But there are few opportunities for our students in Tollywood and that’s why I turned producer,” says the chairman of Pailan Group.

Saha expects Punorutthan, which released on Friday, to match the success of Mayer Anchal and Paribar. “Punorutthan has a novel concept — the fall and rise of a Bengali business family. That’s something I believe has never been dealt with in Tolly films. It features three students from my institute.”

As a bonus, the Mumbai imports in Punorutthan, Raza Murad and Reema Lagoo, took classes at the institute. “I want to bridge the Bolly-Tolly divide,” says Saha.

But why opt for a debutant director (Rishi Mukherjee) to steer the film? “Well, newcomers are showing a lot of promise these days. Besides Rishi has done a lot of TV work,” explains Saha, whose next project is the Debanik Kundu-directed Abhimaan, starring Arpita and Parambrata Chattopadhyay. “Abhimaan is an issue-based film and we will send it to a few international festivals before release.”