Bengali TV & film industry reel under relentless downpour, flooding
KOLKATA: Aratrika Maity, popularly known as Uji from Zee Bangla’s serial ‘Jowar Bhata’, usually leaves her Ruby More residence around 7.45 pm, reaching Technician Studio within 15 minutes. But Tuesday was different. After a few hours of relentless rainfall left Kolkata waterlogged, Aratrika had to abandon her car, ride pillion on her driver’s bike and finally wade through knee-deep water to make it to the sets.
Director Jitt Chakraborty, who recently began shooting his family action thriller ‘Baba’ with Vikram Chatterjee in Falta, also saw his schedule derailed. “With the city in this condition and more rain predicted, I honestly don’t know what to do. As a first-time producer, the worry about mounting losses is very real,” said Jitt, who last directed ‘Aari’ starring Moushumi Chatterjee and Yash Dasgupta.
The heavy downpour has thrown the Tollygunge film and TV industry into disarray, especially as many serials were banking episodes in advance of Durga Puja. “The torrential rainfall has severely disrupted our schedules and regular activities. We had to begin the shoots of our mega serials ‘Khonar Kahini’ and ‘Adi Shakti Adyapeeth’ at a slower pace. To safeguard our team, we sprayed mosquito repellent across the unit and engaged cleaners to drain the stagnant, unhygienic water around the sets. We are wrapping up early to ensure that both artistes and crew reach home safely.
The shoot of our popular crime show ‘Police Filez’ had to be paused. With Puja around the corner, our main focus now is banking enough episodes,” said Priyanka Bardia, Director of Aakash Aath. Serials of Zee Bangla too faced disruptions. While shoots of ‘Dadamoni’ at Indrapuri Studio and ‘Anandi’ at NT1 Studio didn’t take place, others like ‘Jagadhatri’ (Balaka Studio), ‘Parineeta’ (Indrapuri), ‘Tui Amar Hero’ (Dasani), and ‘Chirodini Tumi Je Amar’ (Dasani 2) continued on schedule. “Most of us reached sets late because of the downpour. I’ve never seen such rainfall in Kolkata,” said Aratrika.
The industry is equally anxious about its big Puja releases. Four major Bengali films are lined up, including ‘Devi Chowdhurani’, an Indo-UK production directed by Soumyajit Majumdar and starring Prosenjit Chatterjee
with Srabanti.
“With the city under water, people’s immediate priority will naturally be essentials, so advance bookings may take a hit. But once the water subsides, I’m confident the Puja spirit will return and audiences will flock to the theatres,”
said Soumyajit.
