5 years after his demise, 2 unreleased Soumitra Chatterjee films to hit screens

Soumitra Chatterjee is best known for his legendary work with Satyajit Ray across 14 films. But not many know that another Bengali filmmaker, Shyamal Bose, also directed him in almost as many - 12 films to be exact. Now, five years after Soumitra's demise on November 15, 2020, two of their unreleased films, ‘Bhalobasha.com’ and ‘Sikkha’, are finally set to release.

‘Bhalobasha.com’, Bose’s 11th film with Soumitra, which also stars Dipankar Dey and Rajesh Sharma, hits theatres on May 9. Their final film together, ‘Sikkha’, will be released during Durga Puja. Bose had a unique way of working with Soumitra. As soon as a script was ready, he’d lock in his dates and shoot Soumitra’s portions first. In ‘Bhalobasha.com’, shot in July 2020, Soumitra plays a grandfather. That same year, he also wrapped up ‘Samay’, which was released just a month before his death in October 2020. Bose had planned another film, ‘Pariniti’, with him, but Soumitra fell ill, and Bose had to step in and play the role himself.

“I first met Soumitra da in late 2014 to pitch a story, but that project didn’t take off. We finally worked together in June 2015 on Antim Yatra and it was released that same year. From 2015 to 2020, I directed 12 films with him, and we even did two ad shoots together,” said Bose, who was also a theatre practitioner. Since Soumitra’s passing, Bose has released four of their films, including ‘Samay’, ‘Phire Dekha’, ‘Dui’ and ‘Alor Disha’. While most people think ‘Bela Shuru’ (released in 2022) was his last film, it now looks like ‘Bhalobasha.com’ and ‘Sikkha’ will be his final releases.

“Soumitra da has always been my favourite. I honestly believe he was the best actor in the country. He treated me like a son and I still keep in touch with his daughter, Poulami. I’d often visit his home even when we weren’t shooting. One day, he told me something I’ll never forget… That apart from Satyajit Ray, his five favourite directors included Suman Ghosh, Atanu Ghosh, Tapan Sinha, Ajay Kar and me. He said that I always gave him new kinds of characters to play.”

Bose, who worked at a college and funded his own films, often had to delay releases because of fund shortage. “I consider myself immensely lucky that I got to know Soumitra da and work with him. It’s my lifetime treasure,” Bose said.