Tolly trove of ’14

Apur Panchali

Director: Kaushik Ganguly

Starring: Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Parno Mittra

Why: Whatever happened to the impish boy picked by Satyajit Ray to play little Apu in Pather Panchali? It’s the unsung journey of this one-film wonder, Subir Banerjee, that Kaushik Ganguly tracks and captures on screen. Apur Panchali has already made some noise at IFFI, Goa, with the Best Director award.

Kadambari

Director: Suman Ghosh

Starring: Konkona Sensharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Koushik Sen

Why: Were they in love? Were they more than just friends? The mystery surrounding Rabindranath Tagore’s relationship with his sister-in-law and muse Kadambari is under the scanner. We hope Suman Ghosh sheds light on some little-known aspects and Koko-Param make a kickass Kadambari-Rabi combo.

High-Way

Director: Sudipto Chattopadhyay

Starring: Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Koel Mallick

Why: He’s Punjabi, she’s Bong — a not-so-happy couple who’ve come to Darjeeling to find the missing spark in their marriage. Here’s wishing Pankh director Sudipto takes the Hemlock Society pair’s crackling chemistry a few notches further.

Take One

Director: Mainak Bhaumik

Starring: Swastika Mukherjee, Rahul, Sampurna

Why: A feisty actress lives life on her own terms, facing a lot of flak along the way... and who else but the spunky Swastika to fill her high heels. Reel meets real and Swastika goes where she’s never gone before. The intrigue factor is a film within the film which has Sita’s agnipariksha as a metaphor.

Bunohaans

Director: Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury

Starring: Dev, Moon Moon Sen, Shrabanti, Tanusree, Gargi Roy Chowdhury

Why: Samaresh Majumdar’s story of an ordinary guy getting sucked into the city’s underbelly. Dev and Shrabanti deglam to play commoners in a performance-driven film. Moon Moon as ‘Madam’. Aniruddha’s eye for interpersonal relationships.

Shesh Boley Kichhu Nei

Director: Anjan Dutt

Starring: Anjan Dutt, Jisshu Sengupta, Soumitra Chatterjee, Subhashree

Why: A father-son bonding tale with music as the glue. Jisshu’s second turn as a drug addict (after Chitrangada) and Tolly girl Subhashree’s first act in non-potboiler cinema. Also, Anjan and Soumitra Chatterjee in the same frames together should make for some magic moments.

Shesher Kobita

Director: Suman Mukhopadhyay

Starring: Konkona Sensharma, Rahul Bose, Swastika Mukherjee

Why: Mr and Mrs Iyer (Rahul and Konkona) reunite as Amit and Labanya from the Victorian era! Shesher Kobita, one of Tagore’s most popular novels, has been recreated as a period piece by Suman Mukhopadhyay, with Swastika playing a catty Katy in the Amit-Labanya romance.

parapar

Director: Sanjoy Nag

Starring: Rituparna Sengupta, Paoli Dam, Rubel

Why: He had directed Rituparno Ghosh in his directorial debut Memories in March. Sanjoy Nag’s second outing is based on a Moti Nandi story, tracking the journey of a homemaker (Rituparna Sengupta). The high point is how she bonds with the woman (Paoli Dam) allegedly raped by her husband.

Family Album

Director: Mainak Bhaumik

Starring: Swastika Mukherjee, Paoli Dam, Riya Sen, Ronodeep Bose

Why: Two friends — played by Swastika and Paoli — like each other enough to fall in love. And yes, this same-sex love story is actually just another love story. Watch out for the liplock between Swastika and Paoli, and Riya-Rono’s peppy track.

on the t2 wish list: the man we miss

A Rituparno Ghosh masterclass in progress in between shooting for Sunglass on Vidyasagar Setu. (TT archives)

Sunglass / Taak Jhaank

Two screenings at the Calcutta Film Festival don’t do justice to a Rituparno Ghosh film. We wish to see the commercial release of the Hindi-Bengali bilingual films he had made in 2008 with Konkona Sensharma,

R. Madhavan, Tota Roychoudhury and Jaya Bachchan. A film that explores the funnier side of the filmmaker we will always miss.