Ishaan Ghose: Two films releasing simultaneously cannot be harmful to each other

Both films are appreciated for their unique content and style

undefined

Ishaan Ghose’s Jhilli and Prasun Chatterjee’s Dostojee were released together at theatres on November 11. While Ishaan’s film delves into the dark world of Kolkata’s dumping yard, Prasun’s film celebrates pure friendship between two children in a conflict-stricken world. Both films are appreciated for their unique content and style. However, some experts suggested that releasing two films together may divide the audience and negatively impact the films.

Ishaan, meanwhile, refuted the claim. He said, “I don't think it is detrimental for any film to have another being released at the same time. More films will mean more people going to the cinemas and that is good.” Jhilli has a limited release in five theatres. “I don’t think that release will create any problem for any other film,” the director added.

Ishaan also remembered the time when he co-worked with Prasun during the pandemic in 2020. Prasun was working on Dostojee and Ishaan, on Jhilli. “Dostojee and Jhilli are strangely connected. Prasun (Chatterjee, director of Dostojee) and I went to the same post-production studio, Cherrypix. That was 2020 – right in the middle of the pandemic and lockdown. It was a very strange experience. Apart from us, no one else was working. We did not know each other and then we started meeting regularly.”

Both Dostojee and Jhilli have been lauded in the festival circuit across the globe. The film had its world premiere at the BFI Film Festival in London. It had multiple screenings at different festivals. Meanwhile, Jhilli won the Best Film Award in the International Competition on Innovation in Moving Images section at the 27th Kolkata International Film Festival in May this year. It was also screened at different festivals across the world.

Share