KOLKATA: The Bengali film industry is in resurgence, churning out more movies and box office hits than anytime in the recent past. Last year, 122 movies were certified, almost three times that in 2006 (42). The industry crossed the century mark in 2010, clocking 110 films, up from 84 in 2009. Significantly, at least 90% of them recovered the investment with around 15-20% rated very successful and 10% that did phenomenal business, says the just-released Deloitte report on media and entertainment industry in Bengal. According to sources, 20% of the movies were targeted at the urban multiplex audience, of which three-four did...
↧
Resurgent Bengali cinema poised for a big leap
↧
A director's actor
Saswata Chatterjee or Apu, with whom I have worked in Teen Yaari Katha and Cross Connection is a star son without airs. Probably that's why it took him longer than usual to reach the place he has always deserved. Creative, sensible and humorous, Subhendu Chatterjee's eldest son is a favourite of directors; he's the kind one specially finds roles for. What's keeping you busy at the moment? I am concentrating on films. That doesn't mean I'm not interested in television. I will work in that medium as it has provided my bread, butter and jam for so many years. It is also a medium that has given me the scope to experiment with different characters. It has polished my acting for which I'm...
↧
↧
Team Jekhane Bhooter Bhoy is scared... but not of ghosts! He is scared of a ...
He is scared of a lot things but definitely not ghosts, claimed Abir Chatterjee at a...
↧
TOLLYWOOD 2010
TOLLYWOOD 2010 Heres hoping for a year of bright sparks & big names THE JAPANESE WIFE BOMKESH BAKSHI BOLO NA TUMI AMAAR 033 JANALA MAHANAGAR@ KOLKATA CLERK ABOHOMAAN...
↧
Prosenjit unplugged
The Tollywood superstar's biography and documentary are near completion I am Arun Chatterjee. I am the industry"— True to his statement, Arun Chatterjee aka Prosenjit, our very own Bumbada is still the ruling star of Tollywood. And guess what? Soon his fans will get to know the actor up, close and personal in filmmaker-turned-author Sudeshna Roy's biography, tentatively titled...
↧
↧
Global artistes come together for Indian film
A song sequence of director Gaurav Pandey's Hanuman.com was recently shot at the famous water tower in Berlin Tollywood is going places. Recently a song for Gaurav Pandey's Hanuman.com was canned in Germany. Austrian actress Saskia Ranwig was seen grooving to the Rabindrasangeet track,...
↧
Prosenjit-Rituparna reach Cannes
CT got hold of exclusive picture of Prosenjit Chatterjee and Rituparna Sengupta, direct Canne se. Prosenjit Chatterjee,...
↧
Mousumi adds glamour, but victory is a far cry
Kolkata: The induction of Mousumi Chatterjee, an icon of Bengal's celluloid world in the Seventies, as a Congress candidate for the Kolkata North East constituency has added a bit of glamour to the contest but has disillusioned thousands of loyal Congress supporters at the grass roots level. "It's a gimmick that's going to cost the party dearly," say ordinary party workers. The actress, now settled in Mumbai, started her career at the age of 12 having acted in a film entitled Balika Badhu (Child Bride) which was directed by Tarun Majumdar, an acclaimed Bengali director. The film, a...
↧
Prosenjit, Juhi in Onir’s next?
The director is set to realize his mother's dream of making a Bengali film We told you before that Onir has finished scripting his first Bengali film. If all goes well, the film will start rolling in the next couple of months and what might be dubbed a casting coup of sorts, is expected to...
↧
↧
Prosenjit to act in a film with Sonam?
The actor's likely to be part of Khoobsurat remake Athorough professional that he is, Prosenjit Chatterjee doesn't believe in taking a breather. Having just returned from Cannes, the actor, despite running a temperature, headed straight to the dubbing studio to wrap up Mishor Rahasya on Saturday. Soon after, we caught up with him at his Ballygunge Phari office. In the mood for some adda, he spoke at length about his forthcoming projects. Excerpts: The grapevine has it that you will be working with Sonam Kapoor in the remake of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Khoobsurat, which is being produced by Anil Kapoor's younger daughter Rhea, and directed by Shashanka Ghosh. Is it true? (Laughs out loud) I...
↧
Prosenjit in Rupali Chatterjee's directorial debut
Rupali Chatterjee & team are wrapping up Porichoi's shoot in Kolkata Her porichoi? Daughter of veteran director Basu Chatterjee. As Rupali Chatterjee makes her directorial debut in Tollywood...
↧
Target Kolkata launches its music
'Target Kolkata', an action film which has an interesting storyline had its music launch at Tollygunge Club recently. The movie will see the 'rebirth' of Arindam Roy, the hero (formerly known as Rishi who...
↧
Sandip Ray drops Lucknow duel
As it was initially planned, Sandip Ray's Jekhane Bhooter Bhoy was supposed to be a bouquet of four stories comprising Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay's Bhut Bhabishyat, Satyajit Ray's Brown...
↧
↧
Will Hanuman.Com punch win fans and festivals too?
KOLKATA: MMS, sms, Laptop, and now, .Com. Technology has invaded our lives, so why should it not invade the Bengali screen? Prosenjit is shooting for Hanuman.Com two lanes away from TOI, in Sarbadhikary House near Sealdah. The building has Time written all over it - in the wooden chairs, in the four-poster bed, the dressing table, 'thakurer singhasan' (altarpiece). There's just no mistaking the 'Bangali' ambience in the almirah-lined 'baithak khana' that's now the proud location of Anjani Putra's computer. But the virtual persona of the star dressed in a khadi kurta is travelling through space, time,...
↧
Gulaab Gang director planning film with Prosenjit Chatterjee
Prosenjit and Soumik are currently in the process of discussing the project Soumik Sen is busy with the post-production of...
↧
Raj doesn’t want to get clicked with me: Mimi Chakraborty
An interview is fine, but I can't deck up for the photo shoot. I hate the layers of makeup. It's just a waste of time," says the voice on the phone — youthful, confident, shot with the joy and hope of unending possibilities. And that's how Mimi Chakraborty is in real life. Propelled to the heights of fame by her debut in the teleserial Gaaner Opare, she's slowly finding her footing in Tollywood. Up in August is the biggest release of her career, Proloy, her first role as solo lead. Over coffee, snacks and a long adda, she opened up on her career, love life and why she's upset with Prosenjit Chatterjee. Excerpts: There's a Bhagvad Gita on your bedside table. Interesting... (Laughs) I read the...
↧
Aparna Sen's Goyner Bakso increases my appetite for good work: Mousumi
Actress Mousumi Chatterjee says she is fortunate to have been cast in a full-fledged role in Aparna Sen's next film Goynar Bakso, which she feels has done justice to her age. The 59-year-old actress, who enlivened the screen by portraying...
↧
↧
Saswata Chatterjee to interact with the Gods on big screen?
Debutant director Sani Ghosh Ray is planning a film on a common man's interaction with the holy spirits Bhooter Bhobishyot, Jekhane Bhooter Bhoi, Adbhut, Goynar Baksho — ghosts in Tollywood have had a good run over the past year, but they are so yesterday. It's over to the gods now. Utsav Mukherjee's recent...
↧
Friday film guide
Directed by: Buddhadeb Dasgupta Starring: Indraneil Sengupta, Swastika Mukherjee, Tapas Pal The plotline: Bimal (Indraneil), who is in a live-in relationship with Meera (Swastika), pays a visit to his old village school and decides to gift a windowpane as a token of gratitude. But collecting money to buy the windowpane lands Bimal in all sorts of troubles, which prompts Meera to finally walk out on him. Directorspeak: 'Every man has something in his life which he tries to hold back from his loved ones. When that is revealed, it wreaks havoc on relationships. The windowpane symbolises the access to that hidden knowledge,' says Dasgupta....
↧
Hanuman.com’s makers in trouble
As if shooting in Iceland wasn't expensive enough, breaking the ice with a group of technicians back home burnt a deeper hole in the pocket of Hanuman.com's makers. On Monday, the producer had to pay a hefty sum of 1.25 lakh to the Technicians' Guild, following a notice slapped by the guild, along with the Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA), for violating certain guidelines. The story goes that the...
↧
