Best Bengali movies of 2015

2015 was a good year for Bengali movies. From last few years the audiences were giving indication that they are no more interested in so called commercial movies which are nothing but a frame to frame copy of South Indian movies. Rather people are more interested in original subjects with good presentation. This year this trend continued even more prominently. From the audiences reaction it was quite clear, people are no more interested in South Indian remakes having mindless subject at the same time there are very few takers for too intellectual movies which are favorites in film festivals. The Bengali movie lovers now loves movies which have original concept with a engaging presentation without compromising with the entertainment quotient.
Here are some of the best Bengali movies of 2015 in order of their release dates. Not all of them were box office success but all were movies which had a good subject and nice presentation.

Ebar Shabor 
It was the first release of 2015. A crime thriller set in today's time based on a novel named

"Rwin". With this movie, Bengali movies get a new on screen sleuth Shabor Dashgupta which was played brilliantly by Shashwata Chatterjee. It was directed by veteran actor Arindam Shil and had an ensemble cast of some very talented actors like Swastika Mukherjee, Abir Chatterjee, Ritwick Chakraborty, Payel Sarkar, Rahul , June Malya,Dipankar Dey, Deboleena Dutta etc. The story was about a murder mystery where a lot of characters were the suspects and each of them have some deep secrets with them. How the detective from Kolkata police crime branch, Shabor Dashgupta, solved the mystery was the story.The music was composed by Vickram Ghosh and it has been used wonderfully in the movie. The technical team was brilliant. Special mention should be given to cinematographer Sirsha Ray for capturing the different locations of Kolkata in such a nice way. The over all impact of the movie was very nice. It got a good start and kept doing well at the ticket windows till the end of the quarter and  successfully completed around successful 100 days in the theaters. 

Open Tee Bioscope
Famous Bengali band Chandrabindoo's member Anindya Chattopadhyay wore the director's hat for the first time with the movie "Open Tee Bioscope". It was his own tribute to his

childhood memories , the memories of the mid 90's, the memories of para culture. It was a story of a teenager boy Fowara (Played wonderfully by Riddhi Sen), his childhood memories with his friends, his first love, how he became a part of the local para. The story was very heart touching focusing some very strong relationships like a relationship between a son and his mother, a relationship between a coach and his disciple. Moreover the favorite sports of Bengali culture football was also a part of the story. The whole cast had done wonderful job lead by Riddhi Sen, Sudipta Chakraborty, Rajatava Dutta, Ambarish Bhattacharya, Kaushik Sen and all the kids in Fowara's gang. The technical team had done an extraordinary job to recreate the 90's era authentically. As a director of course Anindya did a very good job. The music composed by Upal Sengupta and Shantanu Moitra was superhit. Box office performance wise also this film did very good. It did a good business from its first week and continued its success completing around 100 successful days. 

Chhotoder Chhabi
Master story teller Kaushik Ganguly came  back with yet another different story about the

life of some dwarfs who used to work as joker and entertainers in circus. He used to present their life beyond our regular thinking , he presented them as human beings. They are not just jokers , they have their own life, own emotions, own ambitions. The casting was a vital part for the movie as the most of the actors had to be dwarfs as per story's demand and at the same time they had to be good actors who can carry off the story on their shoulders. And as a extremely talented director , Kaushik Ganguly made this tough job possible by casting very good actors Dulal Sarkar and Deblina Roy as the leading pair. This movie got very good response at many National and International film festival. In one film festival Dulal Sarkar bagged the best actor award too. It also got the National award for best movie on social issues. Unfortunately the box office fate of the movie was not so good probably because of the lack of popular stars and the too much depressing tone of the story.

Nirbaak

"Nirbaak" , directed by Srijit Mukherjee was the most experimental film from the director so far. It was about four love stories connected together with a common theme of silence. The film got a good opening because of the expectations but after watching it, audience had mixed reaction. Some people liked the experimental step taken by the director while others were disappointed from this. On the final run though film got good response from critics but at the box office it did not performed well specially comparing to the previous success record of the director. The performances by Anjan Dutta, Ritwick Chakraborty , Jishu Sengupta and Susmita Sen were appreciated very much.




Belasheshe

"Belasheshe" was yet another gem from the director duo Shiboprasad Mukherjee and

Nandita Roy. Just like their previous films there was no big stars rather the story was the main hero of the film. The story was an unconventional tale about the bonding of post marital relationship. It was a mix of humor and emotion that touched the heart of critics and audiences. In the lead role Soumitra Chatterjee and Swatilekha Sengupta did a wonderful job. In the supporting cast Kharaj Mukherjee and Rituparna Sengupta were quite impressive.
Overall the positive feedback worked really well for the film and it became a winner at the box office. It run in theater almost till the end of the year and with a successful run of around 200 days it became the biggest hit of the year.

Kadambori

"Kadambori" had been directed by Suman Ghosh featuring very talented Konkona Sensharma in the Title role. This movie was a period piece based on the controversial relationship between Rabindranath Tagore and his sister-in-law Kadambori Devi. The movie was quite authentic in its presentation and the performance by Konkona Sensharma was too good.  In the main lead Parambrata Chatterjee was not that effective as Rabindranath Tagore, but Kaushik Sen was very much impressive as Kadombari's husband.All these worked for this film and it became average hit at the box office.


Asha Jaoar Majhe

"Asha Jaoar Majhe" was a film directed by debutante director Aditya Vikram Sengupta. It  featured very talented Ritwick Chakraborty and Basabdutta Chatterjee. It was a film that got good response at many film festivals and also have been loved by every critics. This film won several awards in different categories at different International film festivals. It was story revolving around a couple struggling to sustain in their relationship in an urban lifestyle. 
But unfortunately this film did not got a proper commercial release and could not became a box office winner. it could have been done better if it would have been promoted and released in a better way.

Nirbashito

"Nirbashito" was the directorial debut of talented actress Churni Ganguly. This movie was loosely based on the life of the controversial

Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin. Although it was  not a typical biopic rather it had focused on the loneliness and pain of the author once she was banished from her own country, own people and own literature. The movie was very well made and Churni ganguly has done a wonderful job as a director as well as a leading actress too. The film was highly appreciated at film festivals but the commercial fate of this movie was not so good.



Teenkahon

Teenkahon was director Bauddhayan Mukherjee's debut movie. It was yet another

festival favorite with a limited box office appeal, but whoever had seen the movie had liked it. It was a combination of three short stories which had covered 100 years of journey of  Bengali culture, language and socio-economic condition of Bengali's. It was movie with three different stories about three different themes of love. All these stories were set in different time frame beginning from pre-independent India to current time. The deatailing to create different time period was awesome, specially the first story which was shot in black & white was very effective to portray rural Bengal of before independence. This movie had some brilliant performances by Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Joy Sengupta, Ashish Vidyarthi and new comers Barshan Shil and Ananya Sen.

Raajkahini

A renowned director Srijit Mukherjee, a huge star cast of very talented actors and actresses,

a heart touching subject and a wonderful presentation all make it a big hit from the very beginning. Once again Srijit Mukherjee proved lucky for Puja release. People loved the story about the freedom fight of a group of women against the male dominated society in the backdrop of India Bangladesh partition. The movie not only get appreciation in Bengal only rather people from Bollywood also recognize the raw talent of the movie. Even there are talks of a Hindi remake of this one. Rituparna Sengupta got lots of acclaim for her leading performance. It became a big hit specially among urban centers.

Byomkesh Bakshy

Director Anjan Dutta came once again with yet another Byomkesh movie but this time with a brand new actor as Byomkesh. It was Jishu Sengupta who had stepped into the shoes of Byomkesh Bakshy. He was joined by Sashwata Chatterjee as Ajit and some television and film veterans who are almost regular in Mr. Dutta's films. This movie once again proved that sleuth films are here to rule Bengali film industry. Jishu Sengupta did a good job as Byomkesh but the story selection was not up to the mark. It was comparatively weaker story than other Byomkesh movies by Anjan Dutta.There was big hype created around the movie specially because the last Byomkesh movie by the same director was a big hit so it got a wonderful opening and completed a successful run of more than 50 days at theaters.

Har Har Byomkesh

So far we have seen only Anjan Dutta's Byomkesh movies in recent past but this time we got a new director narrating the story of Byomkesh on his own way. It was director Arindam Sil.Once gain we got Abir Chatterjee back as byomkesh but this time with a new Satyabati and Ajit which were played by Sohini Sarkar and Ritwick Chakraborty. This movie got a fresh look and treatment with the scenic beauty of varanasi as the backdrop of the story. The locations Varanasi and the North-Indian classical music in background also made us nostalgic about "Joy Baba Felunath". The casting of non bengali but bengali speaking actors in supporting role also gave the film a fresh look. It opened very well at the box office and doing good business till the end of the year.


Apart from these movies there were few other movies too which were good but could not not make it to the list of best of 2015.Such As
Bheetu, Nataker Mato, Anubrato Bhalo Achho, Ek Nadir Galpo, Shesher Kabita, Arshinanagr, Abby Sen.


As per commercial success here are some Box Office Hits of 2015

1. Belashsese 
2. Ebar Shabor
3. Open-Tee-Bioscope
4. Byomkesh Bakshy
5. Rajkahini
6. Sudhu Tomari Janno
7. Katmundu
8. Besh Korechhi Prem Korechhi