Pratim D Gupta on postponing Chaalchitra release: Capitalising on RG Kar tragedy for commercial gain feels ethically questionable | Exclusive

Pratim D Gupta is back in the Bengali film industry after a break of four years. In 2020, his film Love Aaj Kal Porshu (available on Hoichoi) was released. Meanwhile, he has directed Tooth Pari: When Love Bites with Shantanu Maheshwari, Tanya Maniktala Tillotama Shome, and others on Netflix. Now he is geared up with his Bengali feature film Chaalchitra – a tale of a serial killer. OTTplay was the first one to report on the film last year. 

'Chaalchitra is not released during Puja for multiple reasons'

Chaalchitra, a cop drama, features Tota Roy Chowdhury, Shantanu Maheshwari, Ziaul Faruq Apurba, Anirban Chaktrabarti and others. The title of the film suggests a Durga Puja connection. However, it will be released on December 10, during the Christmas holiday. Pratim explained to OTTplay why he chose not to release the film during Durga Puja. “I shot the film last year and then wrote it way before that. It tells a story of a woman being killed. It may have looked like we are trying to capitalise on the heinous RG Kar incident. I felt that was wrong. Moreover, Durga Puja is a busy time. It is Srijit’s (Mukherji) home turf. Shibuda (Shiboprosad Mukherjee) is set to bring his second Puja release. So, we stayed away.” On the other hand, I also wanted to give Hasanda (Firdausul Hasan) a breather. His last film, Srijit’s Padatik, was hard on him. It was released during the prime of the movement around the RG Kar protest. Hence, along with our distributor, we decided to release during the winter holiday,” Pratim told us.  

Also read: Exclusive! Will Shantanu Maheshwari team up with Pratim D. Gupta in his Bengali thriller? 

Traditionally, the winter holiday is the time when Dev brings his blockbuster collaboration with producer Atanu Raychaudhuri and director Avijit Sen. The trio’s three films, Tonic, Projapati, and Pradhan, became huge box office successes. This year, it will not be a collaboration of this trio. However, it will be Dev’s comeback as an action hero with his Khadaan. Besides, Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy’s Amar Boss may also be released during that time.  

Also read: Tooth Pari review: Shantanu Maheshwari and Tanya Maniktala's 'impossible' love story loses its fang in execution and kills the genre 

Talking about the competition from these two films, Pratim said, “I knew about Khadaan but did not know about Amar Boss. Khadaan is going to be a strong film. And Amar Boss, with Rakhee Gulzar, will be a soft film. Chaalchitra is different. It is an urban mainstream film. The good thing is Bengali films have found pockets. Chaalchitra is Shantanu’s Bengali debut. Tota is a mainstream national actor. I am back after years. The film has outstanding performances. Apurba has his own followers. In fact, he was so excited to do this film that he turned down other offers as he wanted to step into Indian cinema with this film.” 

'A good film will find its audience'

Pratim has been spending a lot of time in Mumbai. What's his take on the Bengali audience? “I think they are sceptic and rightfully so. They have been disappointed so many times. Often the trailers and teasers of Bengali films look way more attractive than the film. It is pointless saying ‘Bangla cinemar pashe daran’. A good film finds its audience and people will like it. It is a two-way road. Chaalchitra is a thriller with a serial killer in it. It has the shades of Shaheb Bibi Golaam. Tota is the lead of the film. We are all excited about the film,” said Pratim.