Abhijaan: Director Parambrata Chattopadhyay says recreating Soumitra Chatterjee’s life on screen is an enormous task

Synopsis: Abhijaan is the much awaited biopic on late Soumitra Chattopadhyay released on April 14.

A still of Soumitra Chatterjee 

The much-anticipated biopic on late Soumitra Chatterjee, Abhijaan had its world premiere on April 14 in the presence of the cast and crew, including Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Rudranil Ghosh, Paoli Dam, Tanushree C, Tridha Choudhury and a few city celebrities at an iconic South Kolkata cinema hall.

“Creating Abhijaan was an enormous task”, Times of India quoted Parambrata Chattopadhyay, the director, before the screening. “It was a difficult task to capture Soumitra's life in two hours since he was not only an actor, but a true versatile artiste who fluidly touched on numerous sides,” the actor-director added.

He thanked the producers for their valuable contributions to the project and said he is hoping that Abhijaan will be well received by the audience. Parambrata went on to say that it was difficult to capture the era and the characteristics of other well-known figures but his entire ensemble excelled in their roles.

Parambrata’s film is a tribute towards the life and achievements of Indian cinema icon Soumitra Chatterjee, who had a long and illustrious career in Indian cinema. The plot of Abhijaan revolves around Sanjoy Sen, a London-based doctor who takes a sabbatical and returns to his hometown of Kolkata to begin research for his dream project: the life biography of famed Bengali actor Soumitra Chattopadhyay.

Besides Soumitra Chattopadhyay and Jisshu Sengupta, who play the actor's younger self, Paoli Dam, Sohini Sarkar, Rudranil Ghosh, Padmanabha Dasgupta, Tuhina Das, Dulal Lahiri, Q and Prasenjit Chatterjee play pivotal roles in the film. Parambrata has also played a significant part. Abhijaan is one of Soumitra Chattopadhyay's final celluloid films.

His biopic is intended to shed further light on his path and accomplishments, which include Padma Bhushan, Dadasaheb Phalke and France's highest honour for artists, the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Soumitrahad made his movie debut in Satyajit Ray's Apur Sansar the third film in the acclaimed Apu series. After making his debut in 1959, the legendary actor went on to star in Ray classics including Charulata, Ghare Baire, Devi, and Aranyer Din Ratri.

Not many would know that renowned Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah was fond of Soumitra’s acting. The Bengali actor was also the author of a dozen of books.

Share