Pradipta Bhattacharya’s debut web series Birohi out on YouTube

Pradipta Bhattacharya’s debut web series, Birohi, currently streaming on YouTube’s newly launched content channel Uribaba, is set in the eponymous village. The thriller narrates the tale of the fresh recruit in the only school in the village, Krishna, and the inhabitants of the village. The talented director donned his directorial hat eight years after his out-of-the-box offering, the National-award-winning feature Bakita Byatigato, set in the fictional rural setting, Mohini.

Birohi features Sayan Ghosh, Satakshi Nandy, Anuradha Mukherjee, Amit Saha, Srabanti Bhattacharya and Dipak Halder as the lead cast.

Have a look at the trailer.

The trailer runs through a patchwork of characters peopling the narrative, together with unfamiliar aspirations grounded in the rustic realities of the village, where the trademark unusual texture of Pradipta’s storytelling is evident. Krishnakanta Halder, newly appointed as the primary school teacher in the village heads towards the school, meeting different people from the marginalised section, mired in their own lives. Visual elements are set against the folk tradition of Bengal underpinning the romance, conflict, loss, and pain playing out in the nearly 3-minute clip.

Opening up on the premise of the web series with The Telegraph, Pradipta said that he aimed to create a ‘very ordinary story with ordinary people,’ while also experiencing the process of making a web series, the nuances and writing techniques.

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Sayan Ghosh, who plays Krishnakanta Halder, described his character as a ‘timid, vulnerable and lover’ who is appointed as the teacher in the primary school, which is 100 kilometres away from his dwelling place. “The story revolves around his journey to Birohi and the people he encounters there,” said Sayan. He praised the director saying he allows the actor to be ‘free with minimal and profound instruction,” conjuring a homely ambience and that his film-making process is very ‘organic.’

Satakshi Nandi essays the role of Radha Banerjee in the series. Reflecting on her role and the director, she told The Telegraph that Radha is ‘sharp and agile’, who holds her own in different situations and isn’t just the romantic interest to Krishan. Working with the director has been a learning curve for her. “The way he has written the women in the series is empowering,” she said.

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On the other hand, Anuradha Mukherjee, who plays Kalpana, a suburban woman reminisced on her experience as working with a ‘powerful team.’

Uribaba, is a new, quirky YouTube channel to trace and showcase fresh content and talent in Bengal, conceptualised by Sourav Chakraborty and Amit Bose. The free channel has titles like Meeting Maashi, Duarey Bouma, 5MM on the Rock for the quintessential offbeat content enthusiast.