Parambrata Chatterjee responds to Anurag Kashyap labeling mainstream Bengali cinema as ‘ghatia’

Director and actor pair Srijit Mukherji and Parambrata Chatterjee were present at the inaugural edition of SCREEN LIVE that took place in Kolkata. In the conversation, Parambrata addressed Hindi filmmaker and actor Anurag Kashyap’s remark, in which he described Bengali cinema as “ghatia” (poor) when compared to other regional cinemas. The Kahaani actor offered his views on the downturn of mainstream Bengali cinema and highlighted the connection between the vitality of mainstream cinema and the prosperity of its alternative cinema.

He said, “We have stopped focusing on mainstream commercial Bengali cinema. If mainstream cinema in any industry doesn’t work, then it is very difficult to make any other kind of film. Because the audience size should be that big that you can eat out of that. Our kind of cinema (alternative cinema) thrives on surplus. If there is no steady inflow, then there is no surplus. There is an alienation that happened in 2011. While Bengali cinema was seeing a resurgence of sorts through filmmakers like Srijit da, Kaushik Ganguly and others, who were making middle road Bengali films, the industry unexpectedly shifted away from making big massy Bengali entertainers.”

Parambrata also called out Bengali filmmakers for dishing out sub-standard remakes of South films that failed to entice Bengali audience. He said, “Very loosely and carelessly made South remakes were dished out to the masses. Audience didn’t react to that very well as they found the same films being dubbed in Hindi and being aired on national channels, so they didn’t want to go back and watch these cheap Bengali remakes of South films. The audience size of Bengali cinema kept reducing. Big chunk of West Bengal doesn’t watch Bengali cinema because they feel nobody cares about them. So, it is important that mass entertainers are made in Bengali cinema and that they fetch money so that other kind of cinema can be made.”

Srijit Mukherji, on the other hand, emphasized that filmmakers should focus on creating films that are authentic to Bengal, drawing inspiration from the success of movies like Kantara and Pushpa 2 in the South. He stated, “You have to break out of the lazy habit of remaking South Indian films. Instead, you need to offer something indigenous, a Kantara or Pushpa 2 equivalent for Bengal.”

Srijit Mukherji and Parambrata Chatterjee’s latest film, Shotyi Bole Shotyi Kichhu Nei, is currently running in theatres. The film is an official adaptation of the 1989 Hindi movie Ek Ruka Hua Faisla, which was itself a remake of the iconic American classic 12 Angry Men. In addition to Parambrata, the ensemble cast includes Kaushik Ganguly, Kaushik Sen, Ritwick Chakraborty, Anirban Chakrabarti, Ananya Chatterjee, Arjun Chakrabarty in pivotal roles.