Windows Productions --- loved by its audiences for content-driven cinema --- is bringing its biggest film till date this Puja. Raktabeej, as it is titled, is a taut thriller and a first of its kind by director duo Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee. Inspired by the Burdwan blast in 2014, which shook up Bengal and also the nation, the film is about the homecoming of a man, who holds an important portfolio, and how an accidental blast in a firecracker unit unveils a bigger threat to his life.
Padma Bhushan recipient Victor Banerjee, who is known to have worked with Roman Polanski, James Ivory, Sir David Lean, Jerry London, Ronald Neame, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Shyam Benegal, is playing the lead in the film, which also stars Anasua Majumdar, Abir Chatterjee, Mimi Chakraborty, Kanchan Mallick, Ambarish Bhattacharya, Satyam Bhattacharya, Debasish Mondal, Devlina Kumar and others.
On October 2, 2014, which coincided with Mahashtami that year, an explosion took place in a two-storeyed building in the Khagragarh locality of Burdwan. Locals informed the police, who sprang into immediate action. When the police arrived, two women inside the building stopped them from entering, threatening to blow up the building and destroyed several documents and evidences. They were arrested and the police recovered more than 50 improvised explosive devices in that house. An unforgettable incident, it has left an indelible mark on Bengal.
“Raktabeej is a film set in the backdrop of Durga Puja and therefore, Nandita and I decided to release the film in Puja. This is our first directorial to release in Puja and we are supremely excited. The thought behind the motion poster was exactly the research that has gone the making of the film; one closer look and you will be able to join the dots to this thriller. It’s like a riddle and we wanted to give something exciting to the audience in the run-up to Durga Puja and this also marks the beginning of the campaign,” said Shiboprosad.