Bengali cinema scores big in the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne

Bengali cinema is in a happy phase currently, thanks to the favourable international acceptance and receptivity of quite a handful of titles. The latest on the list is the 12th The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, which features many Bengali films this year. Seven Bengali films have been selected to be screened at the prestigious festival. The event will be organised in a hybrid format owing to the pandemic situation. The first phase will be held in cinema halls from August 12 to 21, while the second phase will show films online from August 15-30.

Aneek Chaudhuri’s Jharokh is set for its world premiere at the festival. Indranil Roychowdhury’s Mayar Jonjal, Subrajit Mitra’s Avijatrik, Parambrata Chatterjee’s Abhijaan, Rezwaan Shahriar’s Nona Joler Kabbo, Srijit Mukherji’s Dwitiyo Purush and 

Ashrujit Nandi’s Shimul Palash Katha will be screened in different categories.

Jharokh is Chaudhuri’s fourth film to make it to the festival. Starring Husne Shabnam, Sabuj Barddhan, Ipsita Kundo and Usha Banerjee, the film is about the desire to escape life.

Mayar Jonjal is an Indo-Bangladeshi production. Its plot is drawn from Bishakto Prem and Shubala, two short stories penned by Manik Bandopadhyay. Ritwick Chakraborty, Paran Bandopadhyay, Kamalika Banerjee and Bratya Basu star in lead roles. The film’s world premiere was held at the Shanghai International Film Festival 2020.

Parambrata Chatterjee’s directorial Abhijaan is a biopic on the late acting legend Soumitra Chatterjee. It premiered at the London Indian Film Festival 2021. Subhrajit Mitra’s Avijatrik takes off from the ending of Aparajito, the third film in Satyajit Ray’s Apu trilogy. The film is based on the last segment of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay’s novel Aparajito and stars Arjun Chakraborty as Apu, who sets out on the journey of life with his son.

Next on the list is Srijit Mukherji’s Dwitiyo Purush, the sequel to the well-loved thriller Baishe Srabon, released in 2011. Dwitiyo Purush will be shown in the Love is Love category.

Shimul Palash Katha, a dark story on the dark world of human trafficking, directed by Ashrujit Nandi will be shown in two categories. It got selected for two categories: ‘No Equality without Equity and Love’ and ‘Longing and Loneliness’.