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But Sarkar,knownin West Bengalfor his award-winning films, hit series,and acerbic tonguealike,is currently obsessedwith another divine beingBonbibi, theenigmaticgoddessof theSundarbans,who is headlining his next film.He wants to bring her from the mangroves to the silver screen not just for profitbut the opportunity to draw in rural audiences to Kolkata-obsessed Bengali cinema...
Now, with the 1 March release ofBonbibi, starringParno Mittra, Sohini Sarkar, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, and Rupanjana Mitra, among others,Sarkar says he is hoping for the goddesss divine and cinematic intervention to jolt the Bengali film industry out of a rut...
While the popular web seriesByomkesh(2017-2023) might currently be his most recognisable project outside West Bengal, Sarkar says the productions closest to his heart are the filmsRanjana Ami ar Ashbona(2011),Jaatishwar(2014), andManobjomin(2023).Ranjana, a musical about an aging rockstar, garnered three national awards;Jaatishwar, inspired by the 19th-century Portuguese-origin folk-poet Anthony Firingee, bagged four Filmfare awards; and the drama Manobjomin received mixed reviews.Yet, for Sarkar, a films value lies not in accolades but its ability to break new ground.Cinema should provoke and take us out of our comfort zone, but also tell a story beautifully, he says.. Everybody is copying everybody else..
When Bengali movie buffs swarmed to catch the 2022 Kannada hitKantara(Mystical Forest), it hit Sarkar like a bolt of lightninga hyperlocal story well told has the power of drawing in a much wider audience.Set in a coastal Karnataka village,Kantarablends folklore, action, indigenous cultures, and even an ecological message in an entertaining package...
A goddess ofArabic origin, Bonbibi,the lady of the forest, transcends religious lines, and is worshipped as aguardian spirit by both Muslims and Hindus in the Sundarbans.People hererisk life and limb every time they go out to collect honey from the forest or go fishing in the river.They place their faith in Bonbibi for protection from the dangers lurking in the dark, swampy depthscrocodiles,man-eating beasts, and even the shape-shiftingdemon king Dakshin Rai, who often appears in the guise of a tiger...
