Tollywood roundup: Bengali celebs who made headlines this week

Whether it’s the indomitable success of ‘Andarkahini' and ‘Rainbow Jelly, the surprising ‘Bidaay Byomkesh’ poster, casting problem of Srijit Mukherji’s dream project ‘Chowringhee’ or Abir turning singer in his next; it was a week full of rumours and exciting news from the Tollywood industry. Here is a look at Bengali cinema's 10 of the most exciting news from this week.

Priyanka Sarkar won the jury award for the Best Actress at the recently conducted Hyderabad Bengali Film Festival for her outstanding performance in ‘Andarkahini’ directed by Arnab K Middya. ‘Andarkahini’ sees four different women and their troubled relationship with their brother, father, friend and husband. Interestingly Priyanka is playing all the four women. Each story focuses on the daily challenges these women face to save their respective relationships.

After playing a young detective Byomkesh Bakshi in films such as ‘Byomkesh Bakshi’ (2015), ‘Abar Byomkesh’ (2004), ‘Byomkesh Phire Elo’ (2014), ‘Har Har Byomkesh’ (2015) and ‘Byomkesh Parbo’ (2016), Abir Chatterjee is all set to play the roles of both, a 70-year-old detective, and his grandson Satyaki in Debaloy Bhattacharya’s next spin-off ‘Biday Byomkesh’. To intensify the craze surrounding this upcoming thriller, the makers released the first poster and it features Abir as the octogenarian Byomkesh and fans couldn’t believe it was their favourite actor in the poster.

Moon Moon Sen is all set to reunite with director Anjan Dutt in his upcoming film. Talks are in the final stage right now. The last time Anjan Dutt cast her in his film was way back in 2007 in his critically acclaimed ‘Bow Barracks Forever’. The veteran actress will also be seen in Ipshita Roy Sarkar and Rajesh Dutta’s ‘Abar Basanta Bilap’, although she has a small appearance in the film. She was last seen in ‘Buno Haansh’ (2014) directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury.

It looks like there is no stopping for Saukarya Ghoshal's ‘Rainbow Jelly’ right now. After earning rave reviews from the critics and audience alike, the child fantasy film has bagged as many as five awards at the 2018 Hyderabad Bengali Film Festival where it got an official selection. ‘Rainbow Jelly’ bagged the prestigious awards in the Best Actor (Mahabrata Basu), Best Editor (Arghyakamal Mitra), Best Screenplay (Soukarya Ghosal), Best Film Jury Award) and Best Popular Film categories.

Abir Chatterjee is all set to playback in his upcoming ‘Manojder Advut Bari’. Directed by Anindya Chatterjee, the upcoming thriller sees Abir as the long-lost prince Kandarponarayan of Horingawr who becomes a key member of a dacoit gang. Rajatava Dutta plays another dacoit and these two actors will be seen singing a duet. Titled as ‘Dakat Hobo Aste Aste’ and composed by Shilajit, this song will have some funny sequences. However, this is not the first time Abir is doing playback. In Raj Chakraborty’s 2015 hit Katmundu’ also he behind the microphone for one song.

While Parambrata Chatterjee is gearing up for his next ‘Shonar Pahar’, an interesting update has cropped up about his future Bollywood projects. Speculation is rife that, the versatile actor will be seen in another big budget Bollywood film after giving a powerful performance in Anushka Sharma starrer ‘Pari’. During a recent interview, Param reportedly said that talks are on the final stage for his next Bollywood film. He didn’t reveal any more details but confirmed that it will be bankrolled by a renowned production house.

Director Pavel, who is all geared up for his next ‘Rosogolla’ was recently pictured with renowned director Srijit Mukherjee who has his own production house. According to industry sources, the talented filmmaker has also been spotted with Rituparna Sengupta on several occasions. But a recent rumor has raised eyebrows of many in the industry. Speculation is rife that his car was seen in front of Tollywood superstar Jeet's office a few days ago. Is he planning a new film with Jeet’s home production? Well, Pavel doesn’t want to say anything about his future plans right now.

We already know Srijit Mukherji is planning to make the modern adaptation of Shankar's best-selling novel ‘Chowringhee’. As of now, it was almost confirmed that Prosenjit Chatterjee will play the iconic character of Sata Bose which was immortalized by Uttam Kumar in its previous big screen adaptation. Now, if the latest rumours are to be believed, Prosenjit has dropped down from this project. The celebrated actor is reportedly not interested in doing a remake of a film which has been immortalized by Uttam Kumar. However, he has insisted there is no misunderstanding between him and Srijit.

Jisshu Sengupta, who was admitted to a city hospital with a severe stomach ache, has returned home after a successful gall bladder operation. The ‘Uma’ actor was diagnosed with gallbladder stone. According to the doctors, his hectic schedule and untimely intakes had worsened the condition. He will now have to take complete bed rest under strict diet for at least 2 weeks. Jisshu’s next film ‘Shonar Pahar’, directed by his close friend Parambrata Chatterjee, is releasing on July 6. We wish him a fast and full recovery.

Actress Srabanti Chatterjee is currently shooting for an Indo-Bangladesh venture opposite Tahsan Rahman Khan in Bangladesh. In this movie, she plays a corporate official. Her next ‘Piya Re’ is all set to release this July. In the upcoming romantic drama, directed by Abhimanyu Mukherjee, she plays Soham Chakraborty’s love interest. It has already become the talk of the town for its melodramatic trailer and the recently released title track.