Tollywood roundup: Soham-Swastika in Arjunn Dutta’s next to Tapas Pal’s sad demise, here’s what made headlines this week

Be it Abir Chatterjee and Rukmini Maitra’s first movie together, or the sad demise of veteran actor and former MP Tapas Pal, there was so much happening in the Bengali entertainment world that got the audience hooked. However, if you missed it, here’s this week’s Tollywood roundup for you.

Srijit Mukherji’s much-anticipated thriller ‘Dwitiyo Purush’ which hit the box office bull’s eye has received an overwhelming response from the audience since its release on January 23. Now, the ‘Baishe Srabon’ sequel is off to USA. It will be screened in 6 cities – Chicago, San Francisco, New York, New Jersey, Virginia and Los Angeles. While the Chicago screening date in February 29, the thriller will have its San Francisco on March 8. The rest of the dates will be announced soon by Bioskope Films who has taken the initiative to take ‘Dwitiyo Purush’ to USA.

It turned out to be a fan fest when Bengal Talkies’ released the poster of their next venture ‘Tonic’ at Nandan after their first film ‘Sanjhbati’ hit the right chord among cine lovers recently. The film promises to deliver sublime humor with a social message on a strong note. The lead star cast including Avijit Sen, the Director, veteran actor Paran Bandopadhyay and Dev revealed the poster of the movie along with Atanu Raychaudhuri and Mr Pranab Kumar Guha of Bengal Talkies amid much fan fare. Tonic is a story of a retired person who faced many ups and down in life to fulfill his dream to celebrate his special day in a special way. How he succeeds to do so is the crux of the story.

Rukmini Maitra will be seen in a film where you won’t find Dev. Yes, it’s happening finally! Dev is neither part of the venture. We are talking about Sauvik Kundu’s directorial debut ‘Switzerland’. This is also the first time the talented actress is paired opposite Abir Chatterjee. The family drama has already made cine lovers talking about it ever since the first-look poster was dropped as it beautifully captures the wishes and ambitions of a middle-class family. And now, Sauvik has wrapped up the shooting part. An emotional Rukmini shared a video from the set to announce the wrap up news. She wrote: “Such a Beautiful journey this was! THANK YOU team #SWITZERLAND for making this happen..This one will forever remain very special!"I Will Always Remember Us This Way" And it's a WRAP!”

Tapas Pal, veteran Bengali actor and former Trinamool Congress MP passed away on February 18 after suffering a cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Mumbai. He was 61. He was in Mumbai to see his daughter but complained of a chest pain at the airport while coming back to Kolkata. In the past two years, Tapas Pal had been hospitalised many times for treatment as he was suffering from heart ailments. He had landed in a number of controversies in last few years since joining politics.

The buzz around the biopic on former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister late Jayalalithaa, ‘Thalaivi’, now gets bigger. The Kangana Ranaut-starrer welcomes a new face in its ensemble cast. As per industry sources, the makers of Thalaivi have roped in Jisshu Sengupta to play yesteryear star Shoban Babu in the biopic. Shoban Babu and Jayalalithaa reportedly shared a close relationship once. So, whoever plays the late Shoban Babu has to be that good to pull off such a key character. The makers were contemplating whom to cast for the role.

Shieladitya Moulik’s ‘Sweater’ received love and critical acclaim from all corners. Now, the young director is back with his next film titled ‘Hridpindo’ which has finally locked its release date. The relationship drama will hit the theatres on April 24. Although there isn’t enough information about the plot, ‘Hridpindo’ is a touching love story that will raise significant questions against the stereotypical notions of love we have seen for generations. Starring Arpita Chatterjee, Prantik Banerjee and Shaheb Chatterjee in the lead, the shooting for the film has already been wrapped up.

Birsa Dasgupta’s 2019 comedy caper ‘Bibaho Obhijaan’ was a fun and light-hearted romp sure to entertain those looking to spend two hours forgetting about their lives outside. Starring Anirban Bhattacharya, Ankush, Rudranil Ghosh, Nusraat Faria, Sohini Sarkar in the lead ‘Bibaho Obhijaan’ is a fresh and airy film about the shackles of marriage, but falls short as he focuses mostly on the problems of the husbands and depicts their better halves as pain in the neck. And now, we hear there might be a sequel to the comedy flick in the offing as the overwhelming response from the audience made Birsa seriously think about the sequel. Even Anirban Bhattacharya who played Ganesh in the film during a recent chat admitted he also has heard about it.

Arjunn Dutta, who looking forward to the release of his second film ‘Guldasta’, will soon start working on his third project ‘Shrimati’. For the first time, Swastika Mukherjee will pair up with Soham on screen. The film will also feature Barkha Bisht Sengupta, Kheya Chattopadhyay, Trina Saha, Debjani Bose and Sudarshan Chakravorty. It’s a story of an upper middle-class, simple, fun-loving, and a slightly disorganized housewife, who is madly in love with her husband. He, however, falls prey to society’s glitz and glamour. And in the plight of keeping up with him, she loses her own identity. In today’s malevolent world, where superficial appearances mean everything, Sri falls prey to clichéd problems. She becomes obsessed and in the process almost loses her mind and identity. The story involves other characters in her journey.