Weekend Roundup: ‘Golondaaj’ release date, COVID strikes film shooting and more; here’s what made headlines in Bengali cinema

If you have missed the exciting news, gossips or latest developments that have rocked Bengali cinema this week, here is a weekly roundup for you. Take a look:

Dev’s much anticipated sports drama ‘Golondaaj’ has finally locked its release date. The Dhrubo Banerjee directorial will hit the big screens on August 13. Earlier this week Dev announced that they have wrapped the shooting part of the film based on the life of Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari, the father of Indian football. “Undoubtedly the most physically challenging film of my 15 year long career. Started with breaking my toes playing football barefoot, to hurting my neck, spraining my arm & today on the last day I'm heading back with an almost broken ribcage. Hope u love this one,” the Tollywood superstar had tweeted.

Kharaj Mukherjee will soon be seen in a negative role Mandip Saha’s film Iskabon. He has already wrapped up the shooting part. “The film was shot at jangalmahal. I play Sontu Soren, a notorious politician in this film. I love to play negative characters as that enables an actor to show his acting prowess. Love and politics are two important elements in this film. It also shows how a local leader forms his own party and tries to fight for the rights of the people in the area,” said the actor. He will also start shooting for Akash Malakar’s debut film ‘Prothom Barer Prothom Dekha’.

Riddhi Sen is on cloud nine and why not! His dream project, the short film ‘Coldfire’ which was screened at the 26th Kolkata International Film Festival recently kick-started its festival journey. The short film was screened as the opening film at the Miami International Science Fiction Film Festival. ‘Coldfire’ is also an official selection at the Madrid Asia International Film Festival.

Riddhi's directorial debut is an adaptation of Nabarun Bhattacharya's short story of the same name. In 2029, a global real estate tycoon Mr. K.P. Sarkar (Kaushik Sen) comes across a salesman named G.B. (Somak Ghosh) who wants to sell a mysterious gadget called ‘Coldfire’. It’s a gadget that has been invented to improve and make funerals exclusive for the upper classes of the society.

Rajdeep Ghosh’s upcoming film ‘Kolkatar Harry’ which stars Soham Chakraborty and Priyanka Sarkar in the lead gets stalled in the middle of shooting. The shooting was stopped after the art director from the team tested covid positive. The climax scene is yet to be shot, other than that most of the filming has been completed.

The film, a modern-day fairy tale, is about a carpool driver who works for the primary section of a convent school. The protagonist Harinath Patra (played by Soham), has an instinctive quality of storytelling. Meanwhile, Oishika who plays the character of ten-year-old Titli avails Harinath’s pool car. The story also shows how Harinath and Titli share a rare kind of friendship, which is full of magic and wonders.

Goutam Ghose is all set to shoot his next film, a short, on the backdrop of pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. Suman Mukhopadhyay and Gargee RoyChowdhury will play the leads in the film and if all goes according to plan, filming will begin in March. While a big chunk of the film will be shot on Ajodhya Hills, in Purulia, the rest of it will be shot in Kolkata. In the film, Suman, a poet and columnist, and Gargee, a teacher, will be seen as an urban educated couple who visits a village to take a break from the pressure of lockdown in the city. The story of new normal is elaborated through their eyes. The story of seven-eight months will be presented in just a few minutes.

Now that most of us are going back to the grind after a disastrous pandemic year in 2020, certain passions and hobbies that started in the lockdown last year continue to stay with us. Like many Tollywood celebrities actress Tnusree Chakraborty is happily pursuing some of these activities in the this new year. She now loves to spend more time in the kitchen when in town.

“My most cherished creative expression of the previous year was cooking. The lockdown was hard to deal with. But each of us found a way to live through it with a smile. So did I. I found solace in cooking. My love for food is an open secret and cooking is therapeutic for me. I am a passionate home chef and the kitchen is where I meditate through the dishes I cook,” shares the actress.