B’desh in Tolly defies narrative of discord in film fraternity
Times of India | 7 August 2025
Kolkata: Shooting with Opar Bangla actors and having them for the premieres for their films here—a regular event in the Bengali film industry's calendar—was delayed or suspended after the uprising in Bangladesh last year. But one year later, there has been a change in the sense of uncertainty over the reception of Opar Bangla artistes in Tollywood. Many are hopeful of the situation returning to the way things were in the past with consistent Indo-Bangla collaborations.
Epar Bangla released Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury's ‘Dear Maa' in July and Suman Mukhopadhyay's ‘Putulnacher Itikatha' in Aug, both with Opar Bangla's Jaya Ahsaan in the lead. Come Sept, Anik Dutta's ‘Joto Kando Kolkatatei' has an Opar Bangla actor, Q Nawshaba Ahmed. Unlike immediately after the uprising in Dhaka in July last year, when Opar Bangla artistes had stopped shooting in Kolkata or attending their premieres in Tollywood, Ahsaan has attended all events in the city for her recent two films.
In ‘Putulnacher Itikatha', Mukhopadhyay retained Ahsaan's own dialect, reminiscent of her roots in Bangladesh. Her character, that of Kusum, in the original Manik Bandyopadhyay's novel, did not have it. Mukhopadhyay wasn't scared of backlash or questions on why a lone village girl would speak in that dialect in a film, rooted in a Bengal village. "We shot the film in 2022. With this dialect, I wanted to establish that Kusum came from another village... but even after the uprising, I never thought of dubbing her dialogues for fears of backlash. I hear people in Bangladesh are eager to watch this film," Mukhopadhyay said. Tollywood interprets this eagerness as a positive sign.
The last two films from producer Firdausul Hasan's stable, starring Bangladesh's Chanchal Chowdhury and Ziaul Faruq Apurba, were released without them attending any event here. "Both Srijit Mukherji's ‘Padatik' and Pratim D Gupta's ‘Chaalchitro: The Frame Fatale' featured Bangladeshi actors. But after the Bangladesh upheaval, neither of the actors could visit Kolkata for the releases. ‘Padatik' won the Best Audience award at the 23rd Dhaka International Film Festival but we could not go," Hasan said.
Hasan hopes Q Nawshaba Ahmed will attend the premiere of the puja release of ‘Joto Kando Kolkatatei'. "Trade ties were not affected even when relations between the two nations were tense. For Bengali films to prosper, we should be able to take advantage of the big market in Epar and Opar Bangla," Hasan added.
Ahsaan, who was in Kaushik Ganguly's ‘Ardhangini', has completed the shooting of ‘Arghangini 2' in Kolkata. "I want to work on good projects. I'm happy I could come to Kolkata from Dhaka for the release of ‘Dear Ma' and ‘Putulnacher Itikatha'. In my country, regular articles came out on the Indian releases. I am happy with the adulation I am receiving here," she said from Dhaka. Ganguly told TOI: "Nobody in Bangladesh bothered about why Jaya acted in my film. We have got the ideal situation required for filming with Bangladeshi actors. It's good the situation is normalising. We can't divide Tagore and Nazrul. If someone from Opar Bangla is suitable for a role, it's fair to cast him or her.