Trinamool Congress (TMC) spokesperson Kunal Ghosh is set to make his acting debut with director Arindam Sil’s upcoming Bengali political thriller Korpoor.
The film is based on Dipanwita Ray’s novel, Antardhaner Nepathye.
Ray’s novel revolves around the mysterious disappearance of Manisha Mukhopadhyay, the vice-chancellor of Calcutta University, in the 1990s. The incident triggered a high-profile investigation and political turmoil as opposition parties accused the ruling CPI(M) of being involved.
National Award-winning actress Rituparna Sengupta will play the central role in Korpoor, with Shaheb Chattopadhyay and Lahoma Bhattacharya also part of the cast.
Kunal Ghosh will portray a powerful Member of Parliament and the state secretary of a political party in the film. Sharing screen space with him will be West Bengal education minister and veteran actor Bratya Basu, who plays a homicide officer from Lalbazar investigating the case.
Speaking to The Telegraph Online, director Arindam Sil confirmed that the film is a fictional political thriller “inspired by true events”, but clarified that it “doesn’t resemble anyone living or dead or any institution, organisation or political party”.
“I felt a wonderful political thriller may be created out of the story. Cinematic and intriguing,” he added.
Speaking about the casting of Ghosh, Sil said, “He is extremely free and easy in front of the camera and emits confidence. The character offered to him suits him well.”
Sil had similar words of praise for Bratya Basu. “I consider him an actor first and respect him for that,” the helmer of Dhananjoy said.
Responding to chances of the film being seen as politically motivated, Sil said, “It would be extremely sad if it takes that turn. Instead of being judgemental, one may wait for the film to release and see for one’s own self that it is just a political thriller”.
“The political party is an imaginary party shown in the film and so are the characters. We should, as cinema lovers, understand what a political thriller means,” Sil added.
On Thursday, Ghosh posted images from a script reading session on social media. Although this marks his debut as an actor, he previously produced the Bengali film Balukabela.com in 2012.
Korpoor adds to a growing list of films where politicians have taken on acting roles. Bengal has seen several such crossovers, with leaders like Madan Mitra and Partha Bhowmik appearing in films in recent years. TMC MP Satabdi Roy, a former Tollywood star, also returned to the big screen on Friday with the release of her new film Batshorik, marking her comeback after 15 years.
