Plaint against Bengali actors Parambrata, Swastika over 2021 post-poll social media post

KOLKATA: A city lawyer filed a complaint against actor-director Parambrata Chatterjee and actor Swastika Mukherjee at Gariahat Police Station over a post made on social media five years ago.

The legal development came a day after a meeting convened by actor and Shibpur BJP MLA Rudranil Ghosh, where several Tollywood figures spoke about industry grievances and operational pressure. Among them was Chatterjee, who had earlier apologized to federation chief Swarup Biswas and campaigned for Trinamool.

Other attendees included producer Nishpal Singh Rane, director Srijit Mukherji, music director-filmmaker Indraadip Dasgupta, director Joydeep Mukherjee, actor-producer Sourav Das, and producer Firadasul Hasan.

During the session, Chatterjee made a plea for peace regarding Tollywood's "ban culture" and stated he had been "forced to compromise for the sake of his newborn".

This comment triggered immediate backlash, with sections of the industry and BJP supporters accusing Chatterjee of political opportunism and hypocrisy for using his infant's well-being to justify his choices.

Costume designer Suchismita Dasgupta condemned his shifting political stances, arguing that Tollywood did not need self-styled intellectual voices who compromise under pressure. "For someone who claims to lead the industry, repeatedly switching political sides only exposes his real motive: staying close to power. From Nandigram to the RG Kar movement to Rudranil Ghosh's convention, Parambrata's every move has reeked of hypocrisy and opportunism. Hiding behind his infant to justify a forced apology was disgraceful. Not every decision can be blamed on Swarup Biswas. Many in the industry have stood their ground without compromising or issuing public apologies just to keep working. The industry does not need intellectuals like him," she said.

Many others shared screenshots of Chatterjee's earlier social media posts to highlight the contradiction in his political trajectory. On May 2, 2021, following Trinamool sweeping the assembly election, Chattopadhyay had posted on X: "Aaaj Biswa Rograni Dibas Ghoshito Hok (Let today be declared World Beating Day)." Under the post, Swastika Mukherjee had said: "Hahaha, yes, let it happen!"

On Friday, lawyer Joydeep Sen filed the complaint accusing Chatterjee and Mukherjee of inciting and provoking post-poll political violence. "The complaint has been lodged against Parambrata Chatterjee and Swastika Mukherjee for committing offence, which contributed to murder of BJP workers, rape and outraging of modesty of BJP woman workers and large-scale violence and arson from May 2, 2021 onwards by Trinamool," he posted on X.

These legal developments coincided with broader friction within the Bengali film industry. Following the meeting involving Ghosh, discussions surfaced regarding the operational environment under the previous industry administration. On Thursday, Ghosh stated on FB that producers, directors, and technicians from nearly all guilds expressed a desire to work without fear or pressure.

Concurrently, industry stakeholder Hasan argued that the existing producers' section within Eastern India Motion Pictures Association was dominated by inactive members who had not made films in years. This structure, he said, left active producers without an independent platform when key industry decisions were taken. "Producers need a separate guild. When important industry decisions are taken, producers need to be present to share our side of the story too," Hasan said.