Update of Bengali movies in Q2 of 2017

The second quarter of 2017 was comparatively better than the first one for Bengali movies, mostly because of big releases during big festive seasons like Poila Boishakh and Eid. Also this quarter once again proved that Bengali movie goers are keener to original stories rather than remakes.

Let's have a quick month wise recap of Q2 2017

April

There were three big releases in this month among these, two were originals and one was a remake.

#Bishorjon

Much before it's release "Bishorjon" had created lots of positive buzz mainly because of two reasons which were director Kaushik Ganguly and National award for best Bengali film. These two strong reasons gave it a good start and after watching the movie people realised that the film really deserves National award. It was a story of human bonding beyond borders and religions.The simple yet powerful story, performances by the whole cast specially by Jaya Ahsan and Kaushik Ganguly, Music by Late Kalika Prasad, all these made the the movie a special treat for audiences. It was a huge success at the box office and continued running with packed houses in theaters for many weeks. So far this one is the most successful film of the year.

#One

This was a official remake from Shree Venkatesh Films directed by Birsa Dasgupta. The main attraction of the film was Prosenjit Chatterjee's comeback to mainstream commercial cinema that too in a negative role. It was a stylish thriller about the mind game between the Hero and Anti-Hero to outdo each other. Though Yash Dasgupta was not confident enough to play the opponent to a big star like Prosenjit Chatterjee but he managed to earn good feedback from his fans. Overall it was not that impressive at box office still good promotion and charisma of Prosenjit Chatterjee gave it an average response.

#DurgaSohay

After giving four back to back successful thrillers director Arindam Sil took a different route with "Durga Sohay". It was a simple story about love, trust and sympathy revolving around an aristocrat family based in North Kolkata and a poor girl who came in the house as a caretaker of an old ailing man. The film was not up to the mark compared to the earlier works of Mr. Sil. His treatment towards a family drama was more like TV soap than a cinema, still there were some good things like the wonderful performances by the two leading ladies Sohini Sarkar and Tanushree, the backdrop of Durga Puja and some good emotional moments about joint family culture. All these clicked really well with audiences and it get lots of positive response from audiences which results into a successful run for more than 50 days at theaters.

May

In the month of May only big successful film was director duo Shiboprasad-Nandita's "Posto".

#Posto

In last few years Shiboprasad-Nandita has delivered back to back hits on every summer, so

each year we have huge expectation from their films. Much before the release there movies creates positive buzz. "Posto" was not an exception, each and everyone was hopeful about this film which was once again about family values and targeted for family audiences. It was about the parenting problems of the young working parents. After watching the film the reaction of the audiences were divided, some people liked the film but a large section of audience were disappointed. It was not up to the mark as expected from the director duo. Their main highlight is the refreshing subject but this time the story was suffering from the hangover of their earlier hits. Also the story was too much melodramatic which gave it a TV soap kind of feel. Although the director duo failed to impress this time but their favorite actors Soumitra Chatterjee and Paran Bandopadhyay were in their best form. The movie was not a huge hit like the recent films of the director duo but still it earned enough to be called successful.

Apart from this there were two remakes with big star cast and good production values which were "Ami Je Ke Tomar " by Venkatesh Films and "Amar Aponjon" with which actor Soham made his debut as a producer but unfortunately people rejected both the movies.

Also there was Buddhadeb Dasgupta directed “Tope” which was well received in festivals but not in theaters.

June

The main highlight of this month was the big face-off between two big superstar of mainstream cinema Jeet and Dev on the occasion of Eid. But before that there was a small film which got a smaller release but get big thumbs up from its limited audience, it was "Khonj" featuring Shataf Figar and Bikram Chatterjee. It was a thriller with a gripping story (for most of the part) and good performance by the lead actor Shataf Figar. Though very few people watched it but whoever watched it, was impressed by it.

Then came, the two biggies "Chaamp" and "Boss2" on Eid weekend.

Chaamp

With "Chaamp" superstar Dev made his debut as a producer so it was very special for him and he gave his 100% effort to make it a good as well as entertaining film. It was a film about a boxer and his struggles within the boxing ring and outside the ring in the battle of life. Although the story was very cliche but one can't ignore the stylish presentation of the boxing matches and an honest attempt from the leading man Dev to prove himself as a better actor. This movie also marks the debut of successful model and Dev's rumored girlfriend Rukmini Maitra. The way director Raj Chakraborty had presented the film that was not that much mass appealing at the single screen theaters but it got better than average response at city plexes. Also it was declared tax free by the state govt which helped the producers to have more profit.

Boss2

With "Boss2", Jeet once again proved, no matter if commercial films are not doing good business, no matter if all his contemporaries are trying to act in more meaningful cinemas to prove themselves as better actors, Jeet will continue doing mainstream commercial cinemas for masses. He is happy with his stardom among the masses and he is not in a mood to be taken seriously as an actor. "Boss2" was a sequel to 2013's superhit "Boss" and it carried forward the story of Suriya Bhai played by Jeet. This time too there was Subhashree from the original cast also there was Bangladeshi beauty Nusrat Faria to add more glamour. There were Kaushik Sen and indraneil Sengupta in the negative roles, they are not the regular baddies for a Jeet film which gave it a fresh look. "Boss2" has all the ingredients of a mainstream masala movie but it lacks freshness in look and feel. In the opening week it received good response from its target audiences at small centres in India and Bangladesh but it has a rare possibility of long run at the box office. 

Overall in the second quarter there were successful films like "Bishorjon" , "Durga Sohay" and "Posto". Now we are gearing up for more original story based interesting films in the next quarter. There is a big line up of good films with big expectations, starting with two thrillers "Meghnad Bodh Rohosya" and "Jawker Dhan" in July which will be followed by four big films in August which are "Dhananjay" , "Machhar Jhol", "Shob Bhooturey" and "Chhaya O Chhobi". Then there will be more than five big films in September on the occasion of Durga Puja. So far the movies which are confirmed to be Puja releases are Srijit Mukherjee's "Yeti Obhijaan", Raj Chakraborty's "Balo Dugga Mai Ki", Anjan Dutta's " Byomkesh O Agnibaan" and Mainak Bhaumik's "Chalachitro Circus".

Best Film of Quarter 2 2017

• Bishorjon

Best Directors of Quarter 2 2017

• Kaushik Ganguly - Bishorjon

 Best Actors of Quarter 2 2017

• Abir Chatterjee - Bishorjon
• Kaushik Ganguly - Bishorjon
• Soumitra Chatterjee - Posto
• Jisshu Sengupta - Posto
• Shataf Figar – Khonj
• Prosenjit Chatterjee - One
• Anirban Bhattacharya - Durga Sohay
• Dev - Chaamp
• Paran Bandopadhyay - Posto

Best Actresses of Quarter 2 2017

• Jaya Ahsan - Bishorjon
• Sohini Sarkar - Durga Sohay
• Tanushree - Durga Sohay
• Mimi Chakraborty - Posto
• Lily Chakraborty - Posto
• Paoli Dam - Tope, Aaroni Takhon
• Priyanka Sarkar - Chaamp