Victor, Rituparna-starrer Akorik on disintegration of joint family in 'Bengali Panorama' at KIFF

Kolkata: With the emergence of nuclear family, there has been a gradual disintegration of the joint family system. Director Tathagata Bhattacherjee's Akorik starring Victor Banerjee and Rituparna Sengupta addresses this cultural crisis for the community and tries to look into the situation neutrally searching an answer to a significant question — where are we heading? Akorik has been officially selected for screening in the 'Bengali Panorama' section at the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF).

The film explores the relationship between an old man (Victor), who grew up under the umbrella of a traditional Bengali joint family system, and a boy, who lives with his mother (Rituparna) — a single parent. The old man and the boy develop an emotional bonding despite their different upbringing and eventually share a philosophical journey.

"Akorik is a family film, which talks about the global issue of the disintegration of the joint family system into nuclear families and further into single parenting. It leaves a question about whether we have progressed socially in the process or have drifted away from our roots," said the director.

For Rituparna, the character of a single parent in Akorik is extremely close to her heart.

"I play a scriptwriter, who is a lonely soul. She had a traumatic marriage and is a single parent. At this stage of my career, I want to be part of films where the audience will remember the characters and not me. Akorik is one such film," said the National Award-winning actress.

"We are excited to know that our film has been selected for screening in the Bengali Panorama at the KIFF 2022. A rapid growth in the individualistic outlook can be witnessed among people where a joint family can be seen as traditional and loving, and from the same point of view, it can also be seen as conservative and rigid. Akorik tries to grasp these concepts while portraying the bond between the 75-year-old man and a 10-year-old kid," said Deepak Pareek, the creative producer of the film and a well-known content creator and entrepreneur.

The Bengali film also stars Anuradha Roy, Angana Bose, Sudeshna Chakraborty, Anindo Sarkar, and others. Akorik had also participated in the recently concluded NFDC Film Bazaar in Goa. The film will be screened at Rabindra Sadan on December 17 and Nazrul Tirtha II on December 21 as part of KIFF.