Best Bengali movies of 2014

As we are already in the year 2015 it is the best time to look back and see how was the journey of Bengali movies in the year 2014. Like always this year too we have seen hardcore commercial movies which are mostly the remake of South Indian films at the same time some non commercial meaningful cinemas also have been made which continued to rule the heart of the urban audiences. But unlike other years in 2014 these so called multiplex oriented movies make it big to the ticket windows too and surprisingly the typical commercial entertainers failed at the box office. Some big budget south indian remakes having big superstars flopped at the box office like Arundhati, Yoddha,Game, Bindaas etc. For the same reason some trade analyst think business-wise 2014 was bad year for Bengali film industry but the good thing is that people are moving more towards some meaningful original creative films in spite of those mindless remake films and it is a positive sign for a better future for Bengali film industry.

Lets have a look at the top 10 best Bengali movies of 2014. This movies has not been selected as per their box office performance rather those have been picked up for its good quality and the power to connect with audiences. The order has been maintained as per the movies' release dates.

Jaatishwar

With "Jaatishwar" director Srijit Mukherjee told the story of Antony Firingee with an interesting twist of reincarnation. This was his first movie outside Venkatesh Films. As a result the marketing was little low in comparison to Srijit's earlier movies so its opening was not that huge at the box office. Later its collection grows with the word of mouth publicity.After watching the film people realizes that this is Srijit Mukherjee's best film till date. The performances by Prosenjeet Chatterjee and Jishu Sengupta was superb. Also there was a brilliant supporting cast. Another highlight of the film was the soulful music by Kabir Suman. Later the film got 4 national awards too which also worked in favor of the film. 
Apart from the actors on screen this movie had a super talented team behind the camera too including Director Srijit Mukherjee, Cinematographer Soumik Halder, Make up artiste Vikram Gaikwad etc.



Chirodini Tumi Je Amar 2

This Venkatesh films production was directed by Soumik Chatterjee. It was a tragic love story featuring a group of talented new comers.The story had an emotional connect with the audiences and it was executed very well by the young brigade of actors like Arjun Chakraborty, Urmila Mahanto, Bihu Mukherjee, Riddhi Sen and Ena Saha. As a result it became successful at the box office and made a good enough money considering it was a film of new comers. The soulful music by jeet Ganguly was a add on.

Apur Panchali

"Apur Panchali" was yet another good film from Venkatesh films production house. Master storyteller Kaushik Ganguly came with yet another unconventional story. The story was about the life of Subir Banerjee,the child actor of "Paather Panchali". The screenplay was very good and it blended the story of the reel and real life of Apu very well. There were some fantastic acting by Parambrata Chatterjee, Ardhendu Banerjee, Parno Mitra and Gaurav Chakraborty. The music by Indradip  Dasgupta was also a big hit. The cinematography was also very nice which gave an authentic feel.The film got lots of appreciation from critics and at festivals as well. It also got a good response at the box office too.



Ramdhanu

Director duo Shiboprosad and Nandita came with yet another movie based on the story by Suchitra Bhattacharya. This time it was a story about the problems parents have to face to admit their kids in a reputed school. Just like their earlier films this time also it had no big stars rather the story was the main hero. The story had a good mix of comedy and emotion which worked very well with the audiences. The acting by Shiboprasad Mukherjee and Gargi Roychoudhury was brilliant. This movie take a slow start at the box office but finally wins the race by winning audiences as well as critics's hearts.


Galpo Holeo Satyi

The only south Indian remake in this list is "Galpo Holeo Satyi". This was again from Venkatesh films. With this south remake director Birsha Dashgupta proved that there are some other good south Indian movies too apart from those mindless action films and those good movies can be remade too. Even if it was a remake the story had been adapted very well for Bengali audiences and the twist in the climax was very interesting. It was a story of Pizza delivery boy who got stuck in a haunted house while going to deliver pizza. As a leading man Soham Chakraborty was very good. Also Mimi Chakraborty had a short and sweet role to play. The cinematography by Shubhankar Bhar was too good specially the one hour portion where the hero was stuck in the haunted house. The movie was not a big hit at the box office but it had done a decent business comparing its budget.

Bunohaans

In 2013 commercial movies superstar Dev had entered in the zone of non-commercial cinema with "Chander Pahar" and in 2014 he took a step forward with Anirudhha Roychowdhury directed "Bunohaans". It was based on the novel by the same name written by Samresh Majumdar. It is a story of Amal an innocent guy who got trapped into the dirty world of crime. The main highlight of the film was the direction by Aniriudhha Roychowdhury and the acting by Dev. Apart from that it has brilliant supporting cast leaded by Sudipta Chakraborty , Sohag Sen, Shrabanti and Gargi Roychowdhury. The music by Shantanu Moitra was very much soulful and melodious. This movie was released in a long holiday weekend and did a good business at the ticket windows.

Chatushkone

Probably the best thing happened in 2014 was it had two releases of Srijit Mukherjee in the same year for the first time.After the success of "Jaatishwar", Srijit came back once again during the Puja season with "Chatushkone". It had a very interesting and unconventional story line. It was a thriller having four directors as the main character who are on a journey to work on a film together for four different short stories having a common theme of death. The casting of the film was also very interesting having Aparna Sen, Chirnjeet Chatterjee, Gautam Ghosh and Parambrata Chatterjee and the interesting thing about the script was the four leading character's on screen life had much similarities with the career of the actors playing those characters. Every actor had done superb acting. Anupam Roy's music was a big hit specially the song "Basanto eshe gechhe". The film got a bumper response at the box office and became the biggest hit of the year.

Khaad

Just like Srijit Mukherjee , Kaushik Ganguly too had two releases in 2014. His second offering was "Khaad" , again a Venkatesh films production. The story was about the journey of a group of around  a dozen people who met with  a road accident. On an inner note thsi was a journey of human souls from this real world to surrealistic world. The actors had been chosen very well from a wide range of actors to play the different characters. All the actors did exceptionally well but some them stand out were Kaushik Ganguly(himsekf as an actor too), Kamaleshwar Mukherjee, Gargi Roychowdhury,Mimi Chakraborty and Lily Chakraborty. The music by Indradeep Dashgupta was very soulful and it was used very well in the movie too.

Byomkesh Fire Elo

In 2014 during Christmas season a rare thing happened, on a same day there were two releases of a same actor in one he was playing Feluda and in the other the same actor was playing Byomkesh Bakshi. The actor here in question is none other than Abir Chatterjee. "Byomkesh Fire Elo" was his last and the best film as Byomkesh and it is the best Byomkesh film from director Anjan Dutta too. He had adapted the story "Benisnghar" by Saradindu very well as a movie script. The screenplay was engaging with a bunch of interesting characters around. All the actors did  a good job but to mention a few who were very good were Kaushik Sen, Rahul Mukherjee and Biswajit Chakraborty.The film had a slow start specially because of its direct competition with the Feluda movie but in the long run it win the competition in both quality as well as box office success.

Badshahi Angti

2014's last Venkatesh Films release "Badshahi Angti" was directed by Sandip Ray. Director Sandip Ray who had earlier directed Feluda films taking Sabyasachi Chakraborty in the title role gave a fresh start to his on going Feluda series with new pair of actors for Feluda and Topshe. Abir Chatterjee fits very well in the shoes of Feluda. With this the story also took a fresh start with first novel of the Feluda series. With this movie Sandip Ray had also made Feluda much more contemporary which will connect more with today's generation. Apart from Abir the other actor who was too good was Paran Bandopadhyay , the rest of the cast was also okay. This movie also captured the beautiful city of Lucknow and Haridwar very well. In the box office it had good opening which gave it a good overall collection and make it a hit.