Director Arjunn Dutta has brought the National Award to Bengal as his film Deep Fridge makes the cut in this year’s list. As the complete winners of the 71st National Film Awards are just declared, Bengal has reasons to rejoice because Dutta’s movie brings home the award for the Best Bengali Film. Starring Abir Chatterjee, Tnusree Chakraborty and Anuradha Mukherjee, Deep Fridge is a deeply psychological drama where separation and attached memories and longing are put under spotlight.
Arjunn Dutta came into limelight in 2018 with his debut film Abyakto. His sensitivity towards dealing instances in his films have garnered him much appreciation. Deep Fridge had done the rounds of IFFI Goa in 2023 and had received immense appreciation for its presentation.
Talking to Indulge earlier Dutta mentioned, “It’s a very relevant story about relationships in the current times and will resonate with all of us around. There are so many couples who are unhappy in their marriages and many of them get divorced even after spending several years together. But still, as couples or as a society, we are hesitant to talk about that. I feel that instead of being locked in unhappy marriages it’s always better to get separated. But in the process, can we forget our first love totally or is flame still flickering there somewhere.”
At a time when divorces and separations are more normalised than ever, where every other day headlines talk about the growing distance between celebrity couples, Dutta focuses on the thin thread of love that existed because of which two people came together.
Whether the relationship stays or not is a different question altogether, but can the love or attraction be completely erased from the memory even after separation, infidelity, or divorce? Dutta also mentions, “When I conceived the story and wrote it, I personally was going through a very difficult phase in life. I saw a lot of couples around me, getting their separate ways and this story came out from all that and more. Like all my tales it is also a human tale but it’s my first full-fledged relationship story.”
Interestingly, Dutta states that Abir and Tnusree were in his mind as the lead pair, since the inception of the movie. He says, “You have probably not seen Abir in such a complex role before and it will be one of his milestone movies in his career for sure. Also, Tnusree is a revelation in the movie. Both the actors have been so cooperative throughout the shooting despite the extremely hot weather and other constraints while filming.”
Dutta’s win is a testament that regional film industry has much left to say and do in terms of content and that emerging Bengali filmmakers are bringing in a new strain of thought in their content. Their biggest power is creating stories which are from the society and this ability to make the audience relate to it is what is gaining momentum in contemporary storytelling.
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