The upcoming Bangla releases

After a dry stretch, the Friday of 22^nd July till the end of August is going to see four important Bangla releases. Kolkata Curry takes a peek into them.

Khawto- This 22^nd July release is an erotic thriller by Kamaleswar Chander Pahar Mukherjee starring Prosenjit, Raima and Paoli. Ronodeep Bose and Tridha Chowdhury play a young romantic couple. Prosenjit plays an author which seems to be a grey character. The Bengali audience has a fondness for thrillers, and here’s another one to quench their thirst. Khawto is dark and bold, which lends it a novelty. It explores love, lust, infidelity and betrayal. Need more reasons to check it out?

The Khawto poster. Source: Facebook

Eagoler Chokh- Releasing this Independence Day week, it’s a crime thriller for the adult audience by Arindam Sil with police detective Shabor Dasgupta back as the investigator. It's the second instalment of the Shabor franchise penned by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay which tasted success on screen with its first outing Ebar Shabor in January 2015. Saswata plays Shabor and the cast includes Jaya Ahsan, Anirban Bhattacharya (of last year’s Arshinagar) in a pivotal role, June, Payel and Arjun Chakraborty. Arunima is said to have sizzled in a bar song sequence.

In case you wanted to read a review of Ebar Shabor or revisit it, find it on this blog here.

Saswata as Shabor in Eagoler Chokh. Source: Facebook page 

of Shree Venkatesh Films

Hemanta- Releasing on the same day as Eagoler Chokh. It’s Anjan Dutt’s adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most cultivated creations- Hamlet. Stars Parambrata in the title role, Saswata as Claudius, Gargi as Gertrude (Hamlet’s mother), Jisshu as Horatio (Hamlet’s friend) and Payel as Ophelia, the love interest. That’s a strong cast! The film is set in today’s Bengali film industry and explores the issues plaguing it, including the financing by chit funds. It will be interesting to see Anjan back with this classic tale after two back to back Byomkesh films.

 The first look poster (Source: Parambrata's Facebook page)

Shaheb Bibi Golaam- Releasing 26^th August. A musical thriller by film critic-turned-filmmaker Pratim D Gupta who you have been reading in The Telegraph (in t2) for long. This is his second full-length feature film as a director (after Panch Adhyay in 2012). Its only similarities with the classic novel by Bimal Mitra and the eminent films based on it in Hindi and Bengali are its title and the fact that it has a Shaheb (an Anglo-Indian), a Bibi (a housewive) and a Golaam (a taxi driver) in the central characters. Anjan Dutt plays Jimmy, an Anglo-Indian contract killer, Swastika plays Jaya, a housewife who is breaking bad and Ritwik plays taxi driver Javed, who “is a romantic at heart, who doesn't let his profession get in the way of his passion” as per the Facebook page of the film. It will present an unusual romantic pair in Ritwik and Parno. The film had been denied a certification by CBFC on account of its erotic content and got itself recently cleared by the appellate committee. The Mon bhalo nei song sung and composed by Anupam is gathering some encouraging buzz.

The first look poster

#Khawto #EagolerChokh #Hemanta #ShahebBibiGolaam #BanglaCinema #BengaliCinema

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The Magnum Masterclass in the city

Chocolate or ice cream? The answer would be either of the options or even both in one, like, a chocolate cone or a choc-o-bar. As it is, in the latter choice, chocolate, at least in this city, plays second fiddle to ice cream. But that’s going to change now, and your choice of ice cream will be driven by the chocolate used in it to take it to another level of pure experience. That’s what the Kolkata edition of the masterclass at Taj Bengal showed on 21^st February.

Celebrity chef Kunal Kapoor, who has been a judge in Masterchef India, came to the city to teach an audience of mediapersons a thing or two about chocolate and Belgian chocolate in particular and introduce it to the Magnum experience that drives home the point made above. Giving him company was actress Soha Ali Khan, a self-confessed Magnum lover. The audience was overflowing in attendance (perhaps for the pull of the chef). It was an honour for this blogger to be invited to the coveted event by Magnum, one of the world’s leading ice cream brands from Unilever. It was another pleasure to meet other familiar bloggers connected to the Kolkata Bloggers Facebook page in the event.

The masterclass started with the emcee asking to recall fond chocolate memories. Kunal told how gifting imported chocolates to girlfriends was fun and the fact that they were ‘imported’ did its bit to impress.  Kolkata being a city that knows its desserts, the talk shifted to what their favourite Kolkata dessert was. While Soha’s answer was a typical celeb type “I am torn between rosogolla and mishti doi”, Kunal mentioned patisapta as his favourite. Why, asked the emcee. Because “it’s easy, doable and full of flavour.” Full marks to the chef for being able to win the hearts of Bengali foodies. Kunal was fun and down to earth, cracking jokes every now and then (including at the expense of Soha) and slipping into Hindi often. His easygoing charm hooked the audience and stood in contrast to very starry Soha.

The discussion came back to chocolate and turned to Belgian chocolate, and the chef gave a short, enlightening lesson here. He asked the audience to try the chocolate pieces kept on the table- dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate. He told to break a piece of dark chocolate in the mouth and push it against the palette. That it melted away, and didn’t stick at all, showed it was good quality dark chocolate. He also reinstated what chocoholics know- White  chocolate is not really chocolate, as chocolate has to have cocoa in decent proportion and white chocolate doesn’t have it. The cocoa butter gives the chocolate its distinctive flavour, and dark chocolate has it in abundance, but milk chocolate, the kind that is popular among masses, has a good amount of milk fat that makes the taste different. Percentage of cocoa varies in chocolate. While in milk chocolate available in the market it is as low as 15%, it can go upto 70-75% in niche dark chocolates. Belgian  chocolate, which is legendary, contains a minimum of 35% cocoa, which is amongst the highest in the world. It gives the chocolate a rich and indulgent flavour and a high grade, and it makes it premium too.  Another interesting fact is that white chocolate will mellow you, while dark chocolate will keep you awake.

Magnum uses Belgian chocolate only, and the chocolate that goes into it is even more special, being patented for the brand by the biggest chocolate maker of Belgium. It comes in three variants (only in stick or bar)- Classic (which is your good old choc-o-bar), Almond (almond studded chocolate crust covering rich vanilla) and Chocolate Truffle (Chocolate sauce running into chocolate coated vanilla). It will be available in the leading outlets in the city from 1^st March and costs quite a premium- Rs 90 each bar (90 ml).

The chef, the star and all of us bit into Magnum together, and the first bite gave a distinctive crack that the product is known for. I had chosen the Classic. The chocolate was definitely distinct and its slight bitter, rich taste left a mark. The vanilla inside was top grade too!

Now, what’s a masterclass without some cooking? So Kunal made his special, Kolkata dish with Magnum, which was a spin to his local favourite- patisapta. It turned out a cone made with the pancake of patisapta (held up by a paper cone), and cut out Magnum pieces, along with khoya (milk solids), nuts, cranberry etc making the filling.

Photo by Anirban Saha

Kunal's fusion patisapta with Magnum

It ended with the chef opening the floor and getting his audience members in various round tables make their own versions of sundae using a Magnum bar and other dry ingredients provided at each table. And some tables did a good job that the chef found interesting.

The press kit was innovative. It included the soft copy of the press release and other support material in a chocolate bar shaped pen drive!

Fellow bloggers from Kolkata Bloggers group.
Group admin Anirban Saha third from right  

Looking forward to Kolkata loving its Magnum experience! 

First look: Mishawr Rawhoshyo

The first look of the eagerly awaited Santu-Kakababu movie made by Srijit Mukherji was revealed earlier this month. It instantly took me back to my teenage when I would wait for the Sharodiya Anandamela, especially for the new Santu-Kakababu novel by Sunil Gangopadhyay. The illustrations by Subrata Gangopadhyay would enrich the reading experience. The cretaive has been done precisely in that style to bring back that nostalgic feel. The teaser design, with no mention of Kakababu, and only his crutch showing is interesting indeed. I even tweeted my thought on the first look to Srijit, who retweeted it.

Mishawr Rawhoshyo is one of my favourite Santu-Kakababu stories. The setting in Egypt is its key attraction (which probably made Srijit pick it as the first among the three novels he wishes to film, with the other two set in jungle and hills respectively). 

The trailer, released on Sangeet Bangla later stoked the fire. It gave the real feel of the fascinating adventure in the land of pyramid. The film has indeed been mounted on a huge canvas, and look-wise compares with a Hollywood adventure. Indraneil is playing the sinister Hani Alkadi, with a bald and clean-shaven look. Prosenjit looked perfect as Kakababu (and the best so far, compared to Samit Bhanja in Sobuj Dwiper Raja and Sabyasachi Chakraborty in telefilms). He has the right age to play this legendary character, which is a hot favourite of Bengalis, besides Feluda and Byomkesh. Santu has been played by Devdan, who is a known face on television and was Prosenjit’s son in Chawlo Paltai.

Needless to say, I am following the run-up to this Puja release. Hope to come back here with more on it. 

Cholo Paltai

Came across this promo of Chalo Paltai on Facebook. It's an under-production film from Venkatesh Films, directed by Haranath Chakraborty, starring Prosenjit and Mouli Ganguly, besides child actors Tathoi and a new boy. The music is by Anupam Roy of Autograph fame. Apparently the theme is today's education system and how it prevents students from pursuing their non-academic dreams and aspirations. Prosenjit plays the father of a young boy who dreams of becoming a successful cricketer. Though the film seems to be addressing the masses in terms of script and storytelling, the plot is indeed refreshing and contemporary. Will look forward to this film, releasing March.

Nondinee first look

Here is the oven-fresh first look of Nondinee (Releasing in 2011), that marks the return of director Subrata Sen five years after Bibar. Nondinee is a light take on contemporary urban relationships.

First look: Ekti Tarar Khoje

Here's the first poster of 'Ekti Tarar Khoje'- the next release from Screenplay Films (of Anuranan and Antaheen fame). Produced by Aniruddha Roy Choudhury, this film marks the Bangla directorial debut of celebrated cinematographer Avik Mukhopadhyay (who shot Antaheen) and the comeback of the beautiful Arpita Pal (surely looking her best in this film) who pairs with Shayan Munshi (who we all missed so much after his brilliant debut in Bangla cinema in 'The Bong Connection'). Kolkata can't wait to watch it.