Rahul Bose, Kaushik Ganguly & Mir in ‘Binodiini’ biopic

Director Ram Kamal Mukherjee puts an end to speculations on his Bengali biopic on Noti Binodini and announces the final cast of ‘Binodiini Ekti Natir Upakhyan’. By now, we know that Rukmini Maitra will be essaying the titular role of Binodini Dasi, a legendary theatre artist from Bengal from the 19th century. Now, actors Rahul Bose, Kaushik Ganguly and Mir have also joined the bandwagon.

Ganguly will portray the character of Girish Chandra Ghosh, who mentored Binodini and played the role of a catalyst in her life. Bollywood actor Rahul Bose will be seen as Ranga Babu in the film and Mir plays the iconic character of businessman Gurmukh Rai, who fulfilled Binodini’s dream of having a theatre in her name. There’s also Om Sahani who will be seen as Binodini's love interest Kumar Bahadur.

“When Ram Kamal narrated the story, I was surprised. He has a completely different vision and he is trying to make a film that will be a visual delight. We see Girish from Binodini's perspective, which is yet again another unseen aspect of any visual narrative so far,” says the ‘Kaberi Antardhan’ director, who is extremely popular for his acting antics.

For Bose, Ranga Babu is one of those rare men who stood beside Binodini through thick and thin. “We barely get to see silent lovers, when the world is talking only of violence,” he said.

The film goes on the floor on Valentine’s Day. “This is our humble tribute to 150 years of Bengali theatre and Binodini Dasi,” said Dev, who is one of the producers. He further added, “When Ram Kamal mentioned this project, I felt that we needed to tell this story with the right vision.”

For young actor Om, this is a huge opportunity. “I was surprised to receive a call from my idol Dev da. He is one of the last superstars Bengali cinema has witnessed. This is a challenging role for me, and I am sure people will get a pleasant surprise," says Om Sahani.

Meanwhile, Rukmini has been preparing for the role for the last one year. She has refused both Bengali and Bollywood films to get into the skin of Binodini Dasi. “I have been doing workshops with Sudipta Chakraborty and getting trained in Kathak from Pandit Birju Maharaj ji's disciple Shouvik,” she said.