Rajat Kapoor: Bengal beckons

Raima Sen has an arranged marriage with a much older man in Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury?s debut feature film Anuranon. To drive home the age gap and the mental distance between the two, the director has roped in Rajat Kapoor from Mumbai.

The actor-filmmaker, who starred in Monsoon Wedding and Dil Chahta Hai, replaces Tota Roy Chowdhury in Anuranon, also starring Rahul Bose and Rituparna Sengupta.

?The character of Raima?s husband in the film is around 38-39 years old which suited Kapoor perfectly. And then he had that corporate kind of look which was needed to match up to Rahul Bose?s personality,? adds Aniruddha. ?Raima gets married to a person chosen by her parents, but Rituparna and Rahul are of the same age as they were in college together.?

The need of the script demanded the change in cast, clarifies Aniruddha, who has seen and liked Kapoor?s directorial work in Raghu Romeo. Kapoor?s lines will be dubbed in Bengali.

?I will probably have a day?s workshop with Kapoor in Mumbai before the shooting,? says Aniruddha, who has finished the first shoot schedule. Some sequences have been canned in Sikkim where architect Rahul runs into homemaker Raima and the seeds of a new relationship are sown.

The cast members meet in the first week of December in the city to shoot the more intriguing portions.

The music of the film has been scored by Tanmoy Bose.

Moments from Shyamol Chhaya: Greener pastures

Their stories

The other side of the Bengal border will make its presence seen at the 11th Calcutta Film Festival with a bunch of five films.

Starting November 10, the eight-day gala includes Shyamol Chhaya, Megher Pare Megh, Kakhono Megh Kakhono Brishti, Bachelor and Kitton Khola.

All the films are being presented by Impress from Bangladesh.

Against the backdrop of the 1971 Muktijuddha, Chashi Nazrul Islam?s Megher Pare Megh is set in a small village rampaged during the war. A man is confronted with his father?s identity.

Abu Sayeed?s Kitton Khola takes off from a folk fair, where the lead actress of a jatra troupe falls in love and drifts into darkness.

Humayun Ahmed?s Shyamol Chhaya harks back to 1971 again, where a group seeks greener pastures in the liberated land.

Mousumi?s Kakhono Megh Kakhono Brishti is about a promising singer who compromises for commercial gains.

Mostafa Sarwar Farooki?s Bachelor is centred around a bunch of bachelors, exploring a mosaic of characters.