BIG’s film poetry at Crossword

BIG Pictures, along with the entire cast of Rituparno Ghosh’s upcoming film Shob Charitro Kalponik, also articulated themselves with poet Joy Goswami and the audience, at a poetry reading session at Crossword here.

Goswami, a prominent name among Kolkata’s literary circles, has penned the poems for Shob Charitro Kalponik, which is scheduled to release on August 28.

Directed by the maverick Rituparo Ghosh, the film is replete with poems by Goswami, which interweave between the script, the dialogues, the characters and the situations. Rituparno Ghosh along with the stars from the film- Prosenjit Chatterjee, Jisshu Sengupta and Pauli Dam attended the gripping poetry session.

The poetry is an important element in the film, close to the heels of the three primary characters. With the male protagonist being a prolific poet who eventually bags an award, it was befitting that film had poems to suit the changing rhythm in the film.

Talking about how he came about to compose the poems for Shob Charitro Kalponik, Goswami said the poems were written as early as 1997-1998.

“Rituparno had approached me sometime in 1997-1998 and showed me the script of the film. He told me that he wanted me to compose poems based on the characters and the situations. I wrote about three to four poems then and finally, when the film took shape, the poems were included in the film,” Goswami said.

According Mahesh Ramanathan, Chief Operating Officer, BIG Pictures, the film is a refreshing break as the poems take the narrative forward. “Joy’s poetry shines through and is a crown jewel in Sob Charitro Kalponik.We want to reach out to

the poetry connoisseurs in Kolkata through this promotion to burnish the film further prior to release” he said.

Shob Charitro Kalponik, follows the journey of a woman’s recollection of her marriage and her radical steps outside it. Radhika is asked by the publishers to complete the works of her late husband Indraneel. This compels her to study his work and therein begins her journey into the past. She realizes how much he romanticized their mundane everyday life. Yet in reality, he was at times insensitive to her, negligent towards his marital duties and apathetic towards their elderly maid. She then wonders how a poet could be unaware of his day-to-day life but highlight the moments from it in his art.

The narrative of Shob Charitro Kalponik,flows through four poems, two of them being love poems. However, Goswami’s favourite poetry is that which is seen in the film to be inspired by the character of Nandurmaa – or the ageing maid. “Nandurmaa was a migrant from East Bengal who had begun to sustain a living by working as a maid in people’s homes. I had watched the maid in my home and in that of my friends to be able to write the poem on Nandurmaa,” Goswami explained.

Reliance Big Entertainment Ltd. is the flagship media and entertainment arm of the Indian conglomerate Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.

Rituparno’s film to be screened at Durban film festival

Bengali film-maker Rituparno Ghosh’s new celluloid venture, “Shob Charitro Kalponik” (All Characters Imaginary), has been selected for the 30th Durban Film Festival 2009, in South Africa. It will be the first ever premier for a Bengali film in the African continent.
The film - produced by Indian conglomerate Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG)’s flagship media arm Reliance Big Entertainment Ltd (RBEL) - will be screened in the Panorama Section of the festival, alongside films by directors such as Woody Allen, the Dardenne Brothers, Steven Soderbergh, Michael Winterbottom and many other foreign film-makers.

“Our efforts to broaden international horizons for Bengali films are beginning to be successful. Rituparno’s work has also been widely acclaimed globally,” BIG Pictures chief operating officer (COO) Mahesh Ramanathan said here Monday.

He said the BIG Pictures, RBEL’s motion pictures brand, had secured selection for 10 of its world cinema titles in over 12 prestigious international festivals in the last six months.

Written and directed by Ghosh himself, “Shob Charitro Kalponik” is a story of death and loss with many emotional and romantic moments staring Bipasha Basu, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Jisshu Sengupa, Pauli Dam and Sohag Sen.

The Bengali film is scheduled to be screened July 30 in the festival.

“Shob Charitro Kalponik” is the story of Radhika’s (Bipasha Basu) journey into the life of her late poet husband Indraneel (Prosenjit Chatterjee) and the revelations and contradictions she learns about Indraneel as a poet and husband.

Rituparno Ghosh Transforms the Bombshell Teaches Riya Sen to Tie a Saree, Cut Vegetables

Riya Sen finally has a film she can tell her illustrious grandmother the legenadary Suchitra Sen about.

In Kolkata for the last 3 weeks Riya has been shooting for Rituparno Ghosh adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore’s Nauka Dubi.

It’s been a career-changing experience for the saucy Sen

“I’m sitting with my grandmother telling her proudly about Nauka Dubi,” Riya said on the phone from Kolkata. “My entire career I’ve been known as this sexy chick and offered roles accordingly. I’ve been dying to do a Bengali film. When Rituda who’s currently my bestest friend in the world, offered me Nauka Dubi I decided to put my entire soul into it. I hope it pays off.”

The role is that of an ordinary Bengali housewife.

“Not like my sister Raima in Chokher Bali and Parineeta where she was all dressed in finery. I wear no jewellery no makeup and ordinary cotton sarees in the traditional style.”

Ritu not only had to teach her how to tie the saree in the routine middleclass way, but also several household chores like cutting vegetables, pouring them intothe vessel, squatting on floor, sweeping and cleaning.

Says Riya, “Contrary to my image I love cooking. Raima had learnt all of that for Aparna Sen’s The Japanese Wife. And in any case she has that kind of a wholesome image. But what would audiences think when they see me do all this? They’ll be so thrilled…And to hear me speak in Bengali. Wow! It’s music even to my ears.”

Initially Ritu had warned Riya her voice would be dubbed. “He thought I wouldn’t be able to carry off the middleclass Bengali diction. But when he heard me speak he said he’d retain my voice. That’s really cool.”

Cool, because every Mumbai actress from Kirron Kher to Aishwarya Rai to Manisha Koirala who has worked for Ritu has had her voice dubbed.

“Raima shared a very special bonding with Ritu-da. Now I share it too.”

Will we get to see the two sisters together in Nauka Dubi?

Sighs Riya, “Unfortunately…no. This is our first film together and Ramie and I don’t have a single shot together. When audiences see it they’ll know why.”

Interestingly Raima and Riya have a healthy rivalry on the sets to get their director’s attention.

Laughs Rituparno Ghosh, “They’re both such lovely girls. Riya unnecessarily has a wild image. She’s as capable of playing a Bengali housewife as Raima. I adopted Raima long ago. She’s my daughter. No one can take her place. But Riya is my niece now. Both the sisters shower me with attention on the sets. I feel blessed.”