With over a decade and a half experience in media, Raajhorshee De had always wanted to tell the story of women and celebrate them onscreen. “Though a lot of films in Bollywood celebrate women, there’s not even a handful in Tollywood. I always saw women as the heroes of my films and wrote scripts keeping them in mind,” says the young director, who debuted last year with the film Purba Paschim Dakshin Uttor Ashbei based on a novel written by Avik Sarkar.
But this was his second film, the first being Birpurush, which has an ensemble cast comprising Anirban Bhattacharya, Swastika Mukherjee, Paayel Sarkar, Srabanti Chatterjee and Sudiptaa Chakraborty. “Birpurush is a revenge thriller based on women trafficking, where Srabanti plays a female cop. Unfortunately, the film is in limbo for the past two years due to an issue on the producer’s part,” informs De.
With two more films ready for release, De will be commencing the shoot for his first short film in Hindi this September, before he starts work on his next big feature. Excerpts:
Your film Rifle should have released had it not been for the pandemic.
Yes, and I can bet you have never seen Arpita Chatterjee in such a daring role of a cop, brandishing guns and knocking out goons. The film is based on a gripping novel Khuchro Poisar Jonyo by Rupak Saha, which is about a nefarious cartel run by gangsters in the border, who smuggle coins from the mint for manufacturing one-shot rifles.
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Shubho Naboborsho also has an interesting plot, we hear.
This film is also ready for release. It revolves around four college friends who meet after a long time and pretend to be happy in their marriages. But their teacher understands and sends them off for a holiday to Puri where they meet four men. The story is about how they reclaim their lives after the trip.
Tell us about your short film A Separate Sky?
Deeply inspired by Aamir Aziz’s poetry Sab Yaad Rakha Jayega, this will be the first film from Bengal that talks about the Citizenship Amendment Act. It’s a love story between a Muslim woman professor and a Hindu student against the backdrop of the student unrest.
It has Richa Sharma, Bonny Sengupta, Sudiptaa Chakraborty, Kamaleswar Mukherjee, Priyanka Rati Pal and Ranieeta Dash in the lead. I will start filming it from September end.
And there’s a huge film on Bengal’s all-time favourite filmmaker on the cards too?
Yes, that announcement will be made soon and it will have an eclectic ensemble cast of over 17 actors of repute. We will announce the details soon.
sharmishtha.g@newindianexpress.com
@sharmidas