Soon to be released Bengali flick Dhananjoy is based on one of the most high profile criminal cases in the history of our nation." The conviction of Dhananjoy Chatterjee" is set in 2008; four years after the controversial execution of Dhananjoy took place in Kolkata. Arindam Sil's latest directorial venture offers a different take on the story of Dhananjoy Chatterjee – a security guard who was executed and hanged to death in the wee hours of August 15, 2004 for rape and murder of Hetal Parekh, a school child of 14 years. On the basis of circumstantial evidence and the deceased's mother's statement, Chatterjee was executed after serving imprisonment for 14 years and after having appealed to all levels of court in the country, and finally, to the President of India.
There was a lot of uproar in the political community as well as among citizens regarding the judgment. The characters' names in Sil's film, except that of Dhananjoy, have been changed. Shooting is complete and the film will be released somewhere in August this year. Director Arindam Sil said, "We re-analyzed the case, met various people and studied books on Dhananjoy Chatterjee case. It was found that the execution order of Dhananjoy was given based on inconclusive circumstantial evidence and there was a stark absence of any direct evidence."
The first look poster and official trailer of Dhananjoy was released in a court room set up recently. Each character's look was revealed for the first time ever. At the launch event, actor Anirban Bhattacharya was presented as Dhananjoy Chatterjee. He entered in handcuffs with policemen around him. Actor Mimi Chakraborty, who plays Kabya Sinha, a young advocate, entered dressed as her character and spoke about her workshops for the film and her character. Actor Sudipta Chakraborty plays Surbhi Parekh, the victim Hetal Parekh's mother. "Throughout the film, I speak in Hindi and Gujrati. Also, what I experience as the mother of Hetal Parekh, is traumatic. But when Sil cast me for this challenging role, I could not say no", Chakraborty told Millennium Post. Paran Bandhopadhay plays Sashi Chatterjee, the father of Dhananjoy Chatterjee and Kaushik Sen plays Shibraj Choudhury, Kabya's senior advocate.
Interestingly, capital punishment has been carried out in India on four instances since 1995. Dhananjoy Chatterjee was hanged to death in 2004 followed by terrorism-linked names like Ajmal Kasab in 2012, Afzal Guru in 2013 and Yakub Memon in 2015. "After the re-investigation of the case by our team, the findings that came in front of us were stunning. The so-called perfect case of trial by the media and our society had been laid bare and the facts were staring at our faces. In the film we show a re-appeal, through which the film explores the established facts of the case and re-presents what could have been the reality", said Mahendra Soni, director of Shree Venkatesh Films. The audience is left to draw its own conclusion on the case, though.