Bengali films to watch out for this Durga Puja

With everyone counting down the days to the grand Durga Puja celebration, the Tollywood film industry has also queued up a number of films set to entertain movie lovers this festive season. As many as seven films ranging from the Jisshu Sengupta starrer ‘Ek Je Chilo Raje’, Abir Chatterjee’s ‘Byomkesh Gowtra’ to Dev’s multi-starrer comedy ‘Hoichoi Unlimited’ are lining up for their festive release. Here's a list of films you can look forward to over the Durga Puja festival.

Directed by Srijit Mukherji, ‘Ek Je Chilo Raja’ is a period drama based on ‘A Princely Imposter’ by Partha Chatterjee. It draws inspiration from the infamous ‘Bhawal Sanyasi’ court case. Featuring Jisshu Sengupta in the titular role, the film will see Jaya Ahsan as the king's elder sister. It has a stellar cast including Aparna Sen, Rudranil Ghosh, Anjan Dutta, Anirban Bhattacharya and Tanushree Chakraborty. The 1975 Bhawal Sanyasi case involved an impostor, who claimed he was the second Kumar of Bhawal. The court case ultimately came to a surprising decision that the person was indeed the prince.

Directed by Baba Yadav, ‘Villain’ has Ankush and Mimi Chakraborty in the lead. The pair will share screen space after their 2016 romantic drama ‘Ki Kore Toke Bolbo’. According to industry sources, there will be another female lead in the film but the director hasn’t yet made a final decision. This is the first time Ankush will be seen playing a negative character. ‘Villain’ has a lot of similarities with the kind of movies Abbas-Mustan used to make. There will be many twists and turns, which the makers believe will keep the audience hooked.

This Durga Puja, Arindam Sil is all set to bring his next Byomkesh film, ‘Byomkesh Gowtro’ based on the popular story ‘Rakter Daag’. It will feature a fresh star cast with Abir Chatterjee essaying the titular role of Byomkesh, while Sohini Sarkar will reprise Satyabati's character. The biggest surprise lies with Ajit’s character. Instead of Ritwick Chakraborty, the upcoming thriller will see Rahul Banerjee playing our very own Ajit. The ensemble cast also includes Anjan Dutt, Arjun Chakraborty, Indrashish Roy, Anindita Bose, Joydip Kundu and the director himself.

Anindya Chatterjee’s ‘Manojder Adbhut Bari’, based on the famous story by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay by the same name, will see Soumitra Chatterjee and Sandhya Roy pairing up as a royal couple. Abir Chatterjee plays the long-lost prince Kandarponarayan of Horingawr, who becomes a key member of a dacoit gang. Bratya Basu will take on the role of Goyenda Borodachoron, while Sohag Sen plays the cruel aunt. Rajatava Dutta plays a member of a dacoit gang that is lead by Shilajit Majumder. Soham Maitra will be seen in the titular role of Manoj. The film releases on October 12.

‘Kishore Kumar Junior’

‘Kishore Kumar Junior’, Kaushik Ganguly's next featuring Prosenjit Chatterjee in the lead has intrigued fans for its interesting title. This upcoming musical drama narrates the story of a ‘Kishore Kanthi’ (one who sings and performs popular hits of Kishore Kumar) named Goutam Ghosh (played by Prosenjit). While Aparajita Adhya essays the onscreen wife of the Tollywood star, popular actors Rajesh Sharma, Lama and Masood Akhtar will be seen playing other important characters in ‘Kishore Kumar Junior’.

‘Hoichoi Unlimited’, the multi-starrer comedy, directed by Aniket Chattopadhyay, sees Kaushani as the daughter of a multi-millionaire opposite a ‘ghawr jamai’ Dev. Puja Banerjee will mark her return to Bengali cinema with this film. She plays the second leading lady but we have to wait for the film to release to know her equation with Dev. As for the remaining cast, Sayantani Guhathakurta will be seen as a dancer and her character is closely linked with Saswata Chatterjee’s, while Kharaj Mukherjee plays a pivotal role. ‘Hoichoi Unlimited’ will have a serious story wrapped in comedy with a social message to all.

Directed by Manoj Michigan, 'Tritio Adhyay' is a romantic thriller starring Abir Chatterjee and Paoli Dam in the lead. It rediscovers the deepest corners of the human mind through its characters. “This is a non-mushy love story, through this film viewers will get the flavour of a different kind of love story and yes they will also find me in a completely different look which is quite exciting after the character I have played in, Ami Joy Chatterjee,” Abir Chatterjee revealed recently while speaking about the film.