Weekend Roundup: Anupam’s tryst with Rabindrasangeet, Indrasis Acharya’s ‘Parcel’, Raj losing father; here’s what made headlines this week

If you have missed the exciting news, gossips or latest developments that have rocked Bengali cinema this week, here is a weekly roundup for you. Take a look:

The news of filmmaker Raj Chakraborty’s father’s demise left the Tolly film fraternity in shock. Raj who himself was in quarantine after being tested positive for COVID-19 lost his father on Friday morning at private nursing home.

On August 17, Raj had posted on social media: “I have been tested COVID-19 positive. My father has been hospitalized recently, but he has been tested negative both the time. In-home quarantine right now. Rest of my family members will be testing for COVID-19 too. These are the trying times (sic).”

And then on August 18, the director shared the good news that his wife Subhashree along with the other family members were tested negative. He wrote: “Good news: Subhashree and everyone else in the family has tested negative for COVID-19. Makes me feel relieved. I'm totally fit and taking care of myself. We are all in seperate rooms. Thank you so much for your well wishes (sic).”

Chandan Roy Sanyal who has become a reel chameleon with a wide range of roles in films since his debut in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s ‘Rang De Basanti’ believes not just in the film industry, it happens everywhere.

“At the end of the day, real talent survives. When someone is born in a certain family — be it a family of builders or politicians — he/she tends to pick up the family’s job. But then it’s their talent that helps them survive. You also have a Shah Rukh Khan, who comes from nowhere and becomes this big doyen of Indian cinema. In Bollywood, this whole nepotism thing is overrated. It is a big filter. Maybe you get the first shot but then it ultimately has to be you. Also, time has certainly changed and there is so much work for everyone now. Theatres are shutting down but there is a lot of content on the internet. Great writers, directors and actors are coming together to create nice things. Things were much different 15-20 years back for someone trying to get into Bollywood,” explains the versatile actor while speaking to ETimes.

Anupam Roy’s first Rabindrasangeet ‘Ekla Cholo Re’ turned out to be a huge hit and the singer-composer now wants to carry on with it. Chiming this tune and hustling through life, the video, showcases strength and determination to fight such unprecedented times. Anupam feels lucky to see the overwhelming response, considering this was his first Rabindrasangeet.

“I feel really lucky, didn’t expect such an overwhelming response and it actually inspires me. I would love to sing more Tagore songs. There is a strange pull towards the tune of EklaCholo Re; in other words, Tagore has instilled upon us an indomitable spirit of bravery, through this song. It’s the love from the audience that always motivates me. This has been a constant support throughout my career, since Amake Amar Moto in 2010,” says Anupam.

Dev who continues to do his Good Samaritan job helping people in need during this testing time has now urged people to come forward and help others. He took to his Twitter handle to post an important message for all.

“Even though me and my team have taken care of this. I would like to tell and request everyone to come forward and help people in need to their own capacity. A lot of times we are so busy making videos of the person in front of us that we forget that even we can help him/her. It really does not take much to help. You don’t need to be an actor, or a doctor or an MP. You just need to be human. So learn to put that phone down and first help the person in front of you, if you have the means (sic),” wrote Dev.

For the past few months the actor-MP has turned into a problem solver on social media helping people in need. He responds to tweets of commoners every now and then trying his best to help them.

Indrasis Acharya’s ‘Parcel’, which released on March 6 and after only a few days run in theatres suffered the COVID-19 strike is now an official selection at the 19th Dhaka International Film Festival. The director himself took to his Twitter handle to announce the news. "19th Dhaka International Film Festival" has officially selected The Parcel in their "Cinema of the World Section" with an invitation to their festival in January 2021. It's nice to resume the journey again being shelved almost 5 months,” he wrote. The director also plans to start the shoot of his next ‘Mayabhoy’ in November.

Manas Mukul Pal who celebrates a quite birthday today was supposed to start the shoot of his long-awaited Dinesh Gupta biopic from March 25. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic scare and eventually everything got stalled. Manas is now eagerly waiting for the situation to get normalized so that he can start the shoot.

“We had everything in place. Mithun chakraborty was scheduled to start shoot from March 25 but then due to the lockdown we couldn’t do it. I have been working on this project for three long years. The huge amount of research work one needs before making a period film, that to on a braveheart from Bengal who gave his life for his country, is challenging task. It takes not just time but a lot of dedication as well. I won’t rush. Let’s see when the situation improves. Till then I will wait,” revealed the talented director.