Tekka, Shastri, Bohurupi versus Joker, Jigra and Vicky Vidya: Who will win the Puja face-off in Bengal?

Puja is just around the corner. Like every year, the Bengali film industry has geared up with multiple releases. This year, there are three Bengali Puja films – Srijit Mukherji’s Tekka which features Dev, Swastika Mukherjee, and Rukmini Maitra, Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy’s Bohurupi, which features Abir Chatterjee, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Koushani Mukherjee and Shiboprosad, and finally, Pathikrit Basu’s Shastri, which has Mithun Chakraborty and Soham Chakraborty in lead.  

Tekka, Shastri, Bohurupi to release midweek  

Interestingly, this year, Puja starts mid-week. As a result, all three films will be released on Tuesday, October 8. This year, the number of Puja releases is at an time low – lower than the Pandemic years. However, these are considered the biggest films in terms of their productions.   

 Also read: Only three Puja releases — has Tollywood’s festivity gone astray this year? 

With some other major releases, Tekka, Shastri, and Bohurupi will face competition this Puja. A week before their release, Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga’s Joker: Folie à Deux will be dropped on October 2. After its enormous box office success and award history, Joker 2 is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated films this year. Next week, soon after the release of the Bengali films, Alia Bhatt’s Jigra and Rajkummar Rao and Triptii Dimri’s Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video will hit the theatre on October 11 – mid-Puja.  

Also read: Federation proposes caution money, EIMPA yet to take a call  

Bengali films to be prioritised  

“Bengali films will see no competition between October 8 and 10. Along with these three, Joker: Folie à Deux will also have plenty of shows. Jigra and Vicky Vidya are both big films. One is Alia Bhatt’s action-packed film, and the other one features Rajkummar Rao whose last film Stree 2 was also a massive success. By the time these two are dropped, we will get a fair idea of which Bengali film stands where,” said an industry expert.  

Meanwhile, an exhibitor said, “Bengali films always get the priority during Puja. By October 10 we will know the status. We also want to give Hindi films their position, especially when they mint money.” 

Devara was dropped on September 27 and according to industry experts, it will not throw any immediate threat to Bengali releases.