Tollywood roundup: Bengali cinemas that made headlines last week

Be it Tollywood superstar Jeet’s latest controversy, Raima Sen’s upcoming films, a film on Nachiketa Chakraborty’s short story or the craze surrounding Srijit Mukherji’s ‘Uma’; 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 items from last week.

Raj Chakraborty is ready to direct ‘Shatru 2’ and rumours have now started doing the rounds that Jeet will play the lead in this action flick. According to industry sources, Nusrat Jahan who was the leading lady in the first movie won't be a part of the sequel. Speculation is rife that Raj Chakraborty’s newly-wed wife Subhahsree Ganguly will essay the leading lady opposite Jeet in this film. The first film of the franchise turned out to be a superhit in which the Tollywood superstar gave a powerful performance as a daring cop.

Amidst her busy schedule, Raima Sen is now in Delhi shooting for her upcoming Hindi film ‘Anya The Other’. The Bengali diva will essay a journalist’s role in this Bollywood flick which also stars popular actor Atul Kulkarni and Bhushan Pradhan. Raima is so excited to be a part of the movie that she recently shared some candid moments from the sets through her Twitter handle. She has a lot of friends in Delhi, so it’s natural that Raima is having work and fun together.

Dev is right now in Uzbekistan shooting for ‘Hoichoi Unlimited’ which is slated for a release this Durga Puja. For this Aniket Chattopadhyay directorial he has already signed a contract with the government of Uzbekistan. On June 5, just like people all around the world, the Tollywood superstar celebrated World Environment Day in the Indian Embassy of Uzbekistan in Tashkent by planting trees. He then took to his Twitter handle to share the beautiful pictures of the event with all his fans.

Dev's upcoming home production ‘Hoichoi Unlimited’ is an out and out comedy in which Koushani Mukherjee will essay the role of Dev’s wife. This is the first time Koushani will be paired opposite the Tollywood heartthrob. ‘Hoichoi Unlimited’ sees Koushani as the daughter of a multi-millionaire. Meanwhile, another talented actress Puja Banerjee will return to Bengali cinema after a long time with this film. She plays the other leading lady but we have to wait for the film to release to know her equation with Dev.

The music launch of Jeet’s upcoming ‘Sultan-The Saviour’ witnessed an unprecedented chaos recently when rumours started doing the rounds ahead of the event that Jeet may not speak to the media persons at the music launch. Soon journalists present at the event reportedly urged the actor for a media interaction session but he allegedly avoided them and left the venue. Even his public relations team reportedly ignored the media. To show their protest, a large portion of the electronic channels’ reporters and photographers decided to boycott the event.

‘Debi’ directed by Anam Biswas will mark the debut of producer Jaya Ahsan. The Bangladeshi actress will also play a pivotal character Ranu in this upcoming film based on Humayun Ahmed’s famous novel of the same title. The recently released first-look poster of the film received an overwhelming response on social media. The makers have now announced the release date and it's September 7. Chanchal Chowdhury will be seen as Misir Ali, the protagonist.

A major breakthrough for Shaheb Bhattacherjee as the talented actor will play Rabindranath Tagore in National Award winning director Ujjwal Chatterjee’s ‘Nalini’ which will be produced by Bollywood diva Priyanka Chopra. The trilingual (Hindi-English-Bengali) period drama revolves around Rabindranath’s romance with Annapurna. While Marathi actress Vaidehi Parshurami has been roped in to play Nalini, Soumitra Chatterjee and Victor Banerjee will also be seen in pivotal roles. The film will be largely shot in Jorasanko, Shantiniketan and Maharashtra.

Yash Dasgupta’s upcoming romantic drama ‘Fidaa’ is making news ever since the film was announced. Produced by SVF, this film will introduce a brand new face to the industry - Sanjana Banerjee. The Pathikrit Basu directorial was originally slated for an Eid release on June 15, but to avoid major box office clash, the makers have pushed the release date to July 13. It means Yash's upcoming romantic drama won’t have to compete with Jeet starrer ‘Sultan The Saviour’ and Shakib-Srabanti-Payel starrer ‘Bhaijaan Elo Re’ during Eid.

Subir Mondal has gained a lot of attention for making short films and documentaries and now he is ready to direct his first full-length feature film, titled ‘Shortcut’. It’s based on a short story of the same name, written by popular composer, lyricist and vocalist Nachiketa Chakraborty. ‘Shortcut’ has a stellar cast including big names like Parambrata Chatterjee, Gaurav Chakraborty, Anindita Basu, Chandan Sen along with Bangladeshi actors Apu Biswas and Orin.

If all goes according to plan, Srijit Mukherji’s latest release ‘Uma’, inspired by Evan Leversage’s real-life battle with cancer, will be screened at the 7-year old boy’s hometown St George in Canada. The town has a small park with a bench in the memory of Evan which overlooks the park. Evan’s mother Nicole Wellwood believes it will be an ideal location for the screening. It’s just like bringing 'Uma' to the special place where Evan still lives in the memory of St George. It will be no doubt a memorable occasion in her life.