From the Archives of Tollywood Dhamaka: Raima Sen promotes Children of War

Posted April 29, 2014 under Celebrity News By Annesh Bilas Thakur

 

Raima Sen promotes her film - Children of War

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he birth of the Nation of Bangladesh has been shown in some films from India, including many abberations, the most recent of which, Yash Raj Films' Gunday, raked up a huge controversy! First time Director Mritunjay Devvrat, also has dealt with the factual version pertaining to the subject of the birth of the Nation of Bangladesh but his film "Children of War" has more to it than just that.

Children of War stars Riddhi Sen, Raima Sen, Tilottama Shome, Indraneil Sengupta, Victor Banerjee, Rucha Inamdar, Farooque Shaikh and Pavan Malhotra in important roles. Set in the 1970s, the film follows three separate stories during the Bangladesh War, during which time thousands of women were raped and millions of people were killed. As the film progresses towards its climax, the three stories begin to intertwine with one another.

Recently, during a press conference at a five star hotel in South Kolkata, actress Raima Sen took the opportunity in promoting the film. "It was arguably one of the toughest roles I ever have had to essay. It's a controversial film based on the rape of a large number of Bangladeshi Bengali women by Pakistani army men during the Liberation War, in which rape was used a weapon." said Raima.

She urged upon all the fans of Cinema to unite and support a film like "Children of War" for it is an important film which speaks about the tales from the margins. 

"The idea of putting rapes in the film was not to sell it. It was an attempt to show the factual truth, it is to show how men can become animals for power" Devvrat told our Little Birdie, when contacted.

The film was previously titled "The Bastard Child" however the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association did not approve of the movie's title, which included the word "bastard"; and hence the tile was changed to "Children of War".

Raima Sen was most hopeful that Kolkata, the city known for it's rich culture and the endorsement of art and cinema would support her bold-on-content film.

Pictures by: Pratik Banerjee

Children of War, Raima Sen, The Bastard Child, Mritunjay Devvrat, Celebrity News, Movie Promotion, Kolkata. Tollywood Dhamaka, Pratik Banerjee, Annesh Bilas Thakur

 

From the Archives of Tollywood Dhamaka: Shoot begins for Ebar Shabor

Posted April 28, 2014 under On Location By Annesh Bilas Thakur

 

Arindam Sil shoots in the Kolkata heat for his next directorial venture - Ebar Shabor

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olkata has always loved it's sleuths, be itByomkesh Bakshi or Feluda or Kakababu; and how! Many films have been made with these iconic characters but in this modern era, the city needed a sleuth like no other, a hero like no other, not a super man but just simply put - a super cop.

Arindam Sil's second directorial venture - "Ebar Shabor", is based on Sirshendu Mukherjee's novel "Wrin" where the main character is a Detective from the Kolkata Police - Shabor Dasgupta. "After Aborto, this is my second film and I am very happy to be working with the best actors in town. I feel humbled and delighted to have such a magnificent ensemble cast working on this movie." said Arindam Sil.

Swastika Mukherjee, Abir Chatterjee, Paayel Sarkar, Ritwick Chakrabarty, Dipankar De, June Maliah, Rahul Banerjee, Debaleena Dutt, Subhrajit play important characters in the film besides Saswata Chatterjee as Shabor himself.

Our Little Birdie caught the team of "Ebar Shabor" shooting across various locations of the City in this rather scorching summer.

"Shabor is someone who is not just tough but at times he is quite rough too. Hence, we found it best to just let the character be a normal person in Kolkata working of rhte Kolkata Police's Detective division. He takes the tram, boards a taxi, walks through the bylanes and even drinks like any other person would. He is a true hero, but of pure flesh and blood and yes, principles too." revealed a well placed source in the unit.

The first shot for the film however was taken indoors at a beautiful old mansion in North Kolkata. 

The film is produced by Reliance Enetertainment Pvt. Ltd. and Mundus Services Pvt. Ltd. and is eyeing a release later this year.

Here's wishing the entire unit, all the very best!!

Pictures by: Dipanjan Ghosh

Arindam Sil, Ebar Shabor, Saswata Chatterjee, Swastika Mukherjee, Abir Chatterjee, Paayel Sarkar, Ritwick Chakrabarty, Dipankar De, June Maliah, Rahul Banerjee, Debaleena Dutt, Subhrajit, Reliance Entertainment, On Location, Kolkata, Tollywood Dhamaka, Annesh Bilas Thakur, Dipanjan Ghosh

From the Archives of Tollywood Dhamaka: 100 days of Chander Pahar

Posted March 31, 2014 under Movie News By Aditya Chakrabarty

 

Team Chander Pahar celebrates 100 Days at the Box Office!!

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his weekend saw a historic landmark for Bengali cinema as almost approximately in over two decades, a movie touched the '100 days' mark! Tollywood's highest grossing film "Chander Pahar" officially crossed the '100 days' mark as it's been playing at the theaters since December 20, 2013.

Chander Pahar starring Dev and directed byKamaleshwar Mukherjee is based on the Novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay and is about the tale of Shankar & his exploits in Africa .

Dev has surpassed all his previous performances till date and the film has been breaking all kinds of box office records as far as Bengali films are concerned and has even been a success overseas (in the USA) . 

To commemorate the occassion, a small cake-cutting ceremony was organized at Inox, South City Mall in presence of the director Kamaleshwar Mukherjee, the lead actor Dev aka Shankar and the producer of the film Shrikant Mohta. The crew of the film was also represented at the ceremony.

Our Little Birdie was informed by a source close to the organizers that the event was done at South City Mall, next to Dev's home at the South City Towers only to accomodate his super busy schedule. Dev, has been busy with both the shooting of another Venkatesh Film's project - Joddha, directed by Raj Chakrabarty; and the campaigning for the Lok Sabha Elections, which he is contesting from Ghatal, West Midnapore.

The Three Musketeers viz. Dev, Kamaleshwar Mukherjee and Shrikant Mohta were all smiles when we congratulated on the huge success of "Chander Pahar". 

Here's wishing the film even more success in the coming months!!

Pictures by: Akash Goswami 
Text Contibuted by: Aditya Chakrabarty and Annesh Bilas Thakur

Dev, Kamaleshwar Mukherjee, Shrikant Mohta, Shree Venkatesh Films, Chander Pahar, 100 days,Inox, Kolkata, Tollywood Dhamaka, Aditya Chakrabarty, Annesh Bilas Thakur, Akash Goswami

 

From the Archives of Tollywood Dhamaka: Teen Patti

Posted March 31, 2014 under Event News By Annesh Bilas Thakur

 

The Premiere of Teen Patti

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olkata's never shy of enjoying a murder mystery story, be it in the pages of a book or on the big screen, and the premier of the latest Bengali movie - 'Teen Patti' further established that fact.

Not only were the cast members of the film present at Priya Cinemas recently but a lot of people had bought special limited tickets to attend the premiere and quench their thirst of the 'who dunnit'!!

Teen Patti is a murder mystery where the entire story revolves around the death of a young sober businessman. The movie depicts the life of two friends; their life takes a halt right when they were soaring high in their career. 

Starring Ritwik Chakrabarty, Indraneil Sengupta, Puja Banerjee, Ushashie Chakrabarty among others, a lot of expectations surround the film and the new director duo in town: Jenny & Dipayan.

Our Little Birdie spotted Kamaleshwar Mukherjee, Aparajita Ghosh, Rudraneil Ghosh alongside the cast and crew at the star studded premier!

Here's wishing the film, all the success.

Pictures by: Akash Goswami

Teen Patti, Event News, Ritwik Chakrabarty, Indraneil Sengupta, Puja Banerjee, Ushashie Chakrabarty, Kamaleshwar Mukherjee, Rudraneil Ghosh, Kolkata, Tollywood Dhamaka, Annesh Bilas Thakur, Akash Goswami

From the Archives of Tollywood Dhamaka: Announcement of Ebar Shabor

Posted March 19, 2014 under Movie News By Annesh Bilas Thakur

 

Arindam Sil announces his second film Ebar Shabor, shooting to commence soon

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hat Bengalis are absolutely fascinated with sleuths is an open secret, but what if that sleuth is not just a "Private Investigator" or just aSatyanweshi - one in search of the truth? What if we are to tell you that a true sleuth is one who is an employee of the City's Police Department and is not a perfect man?!

Arindam Sil's second directorial venture is titled "Ebar Shabor" and is based on the novel - Wrin by Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay which is one of the four to five stories the celebrated author has written on the detective character - "Shabor Dasgupta".

"Shabor is someone who is a character of flesh and blood. He is not perfect, if anything he has his own bagge to deal with; quite like any one of us. I have seen and known personnels from the Detective Department at Lalbazaar and the amount of work Kolkata Police puts in each day is just mind boggling. This film is also my personal dedication to the Kolkata Police." said Arindam Sil as he introduced the star cast of the film viz. Saswata Chatterjee as Shabor Dasgupta, Abir Chatterjee as Mithu Mitra, Swastika Mukherjeeas Mitali, Payal Sarkar as Jayita, Gargi Roy Chowdhury as Julekha and Subhrajit as Nanda, Shabor's assistant . Deepankar Dey plays the role of Mitali's father, and the film also stars Rahul Banerjee andRitwick Chakrabarty in pivotal roles.

"Debaleena Dutta plays an important character in my film while Kaushik Ganguly makes a guest appearance. I could not afford not to have Kaushik around after what he did for me in Aborto. Bickram Ghosh is the music director of the film, and it's not because he is my childhood friend but it's because I beleive he is truly the best man for this job!" added Sil, at the party on his fiftieth birthday. We also spotted the likes of Sundeep Bhutoria, Arijit Dutta, J.K. Ray and Gautam Mohan Chakrabarty at the party!

Interestingly Abir Chatterjee has done two different, iconic detective characters thus far but in this film he isn't a sleuth for a change! "Abir plays a karate instructor and a romantic hero in this film; while Apu(Saswata) plays the protagonist. I think it's about time Apu was given a chance of playing the detective because he has it in him to make this character truly iconic." added the director.

The script for the film has been co-written by Arindam Sil and Padmanava Dasgupta while the film is being produced by Reliance Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and Mundus Services Pvt. Ltd. The film is all set to be shot extensively in Kolkata on a 30 odd day schedule after which a smaller crew will be off to Pondicherry to wrap the film.

Here's wishing the film good luck!

Pictures by: Dipanjan Ghosh

Movie News, Arindam Sil, Abir Chatterjee, Payal Sarkar, Swastika Mukherjee, Deepankar Dey, Gargi Roy Chowdhury, Kaushik Ganguly, Bickram Ghosh, Ebar Shabor, Kolkata, Tollywood Dhamaka, Annesh Bilas Thakur, Dipanjan Ghosh

From the Archives of Tollywood Dhamaka: New INOX at Quest Mall in Kolkata

Posted March 08, 2014 under Special Story By Annesh Bilas Thakur

 

Kolkata's latest hot-spot is the INOX at Quest Mall

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NOX has always been the leader when it's come to the multiplex scene in Kolkata, and this Friday, it went one step ahead in further solidifying the leadership position by launching it's latest 6 screen multiplex at the Quest Mall.

INOX, the pioneer of multiplex culture in West Bengal, is also the largest multiplex chain in the State, operating a total of 14 multiplexes including 9 in the greater Kolkata area.

INOX Quest is certainly tipped to be the city's new favorite hot-spot with it's upscale decor and state-of-the-art facilities for the quality conscious consumer, it is based on the Art Deco concept. For the first time in the brand's glorious history, the multiplex has two INSIGNIA Screens with the most comfortable recliners that add to the rich "Live the Movie" experience.

"We were always the first one's to mix innovation with pleasure for Kolkata, even in terms of putting a spin on the old combination of popcorns and movie for the cinegoers! We were the first one's to introduce Nachosto Kolkata and the foodie city just picked it up instantly!" quipped Mr. Alok Tandon, the CEO of Inox Leisure Pvt. Ltd. 

"We do all our innovations in the most scientific format possible - from ensuring perfect viewing angles with all the recliners, to the 2K format for movie screenings and the latest 7.1 Surround Digital Sound at all the theaters. The designs of our two latest Insignia screens are one notch up from our immediate previous ones, so as to provide the cinegoers an even better wholesome experience which we so fondly call - Live the movie!" revealed Mr. Tandon.

INOX is India's largest multiplex brand and with this launch at Quest Mall, it is now present in 42 cities with 78 properties, 307 screens and a total seating capacity of 83,324 across India. 

Our Little Birdie wishes team INOX the best!!

Pictures by: Dipanjan Ghosh

INOX, Inox Quest Mall, Special Story, Kolkata, Tollywood Dhamaka, Annesh Bilas Thakur, Dipanjan Ghosh

From the Archives of Tollywood Dhamaka: DVD launch of Aborto

Posted March 05, 2014 under Movie News By Annesh Bilas Thakur

 

Swastika Mukherjee, Anik Dutta, Sundeep Bhutoria launch the DVD of Arindam Sil's "Aborto"

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arely has any filmmaker in any film industry took a truly different stance on piracy! 

Just the thought of letting the piracy swing into action, have their time under sun and then when they are all worn out, stepping in to rule the roost - sounds like the most ambitiously atrocious idea ever; but that is exactly what filmmaker Arindam Sil andKaleidoscope Entertainment - a digital solution agency had strategised for the launch of the original DVD and VCD's of Sil's first directorial venture - "Aborto".

The DVD's and VCD's of "Aborto" were launched at Crossword on Elgin Road, by ace actress Swastika Mukherjee, filmmaker Anik Dutta and socialite Sundeep Bhutoria in presence of Arindam Sil, Saswata Chatterjee, Tota Roy Chowdhury and the crew of the film.

"Arindam da is a very dear friend and I have known him since my days in television, well over a decade or so. Now that I did a guest appearance in his first film, and I am doing his next two, he better cast me in all the ones he makes or I will kill him!" said Swastika who was all smiles as she launched the DVD and posed for the shutterbugs.

Anik Dutta was all for making a point as well and told our Little Birdie - "It's all about timing you see. There are many people even outside this city and country who want to see and appreciate good bangla cinema but they don't quite have access to them. Original DVD's at an affordable price is a must and having it ready on the shelves of national chain of music stores is an added bonus."

The two lead actors and on-screen rivals from "Aborto" - Saswata Chatterjee and Tota Roy Chowdhuryseemed to also agree with the concept of releasing the film's DVD a year after it's release and encouraged all present to buy original.

On an ending note Arindam Sil added that his next film "Ebar Shobor" is scheduled to go on floors really soon and stars Saswata Chatterjee in the main role as Detective Shobor Dasgupta. We surely will be waiting to catch that film!

Pictures by: Dipanjan Ghosh

Aborto, Event News, Arindam Sil, Saswata Chatterjee, Tota Roy Chowdhury, Swastika Mukherjee, Kolkata, Tollywood Dhamaka, Annesh Bilas Thakur, Dipanjan Ghosh