Kolkata: CM Suvendu Adhikari met actor-producer Anupam Kher on Friday and pledged full support for his upcoming co-production, ‘Shuru Theke Shuru’, which is set in Kolkata. Kher’s return to Bengali film production — his first since Rituparno Ghosh’s ‘Bariwali’ 26 years ago — signals a notable shift in the perception of Bengal as a film-friendly destination.On Monday, Kher along with co-producer Firdausul Hasan, unveiled the logo of Mumbai-Shamik Banerjee’s film in presence of the film’s cast and crew including Rahul Bose, Tota Roy Chowdhury, Paoli Dam, Jeet Gannguli and Indranath Marick, among others. “Tollywood needs new investors to come to Bengal. That responsibility rests on producers like us and not our actors. Though we have good directors in Bengal, I also believe the industry needs more new voices. Insecurity and competition can result in good projects too. So many of them have shifted outside Bengal. Nothing can be better if they return and shoot in Bengal,” Hasan said.Kher told TOI that in these 26 years, he was discouraged to make another film in Bengal every time he broached the idea. “There was a fear working. Today, I was so happy when CM Suvendu Adhikari said he is ready to extend all kinds of support,” Kher said. Actor-turned-BJP MLA Roopa Gannguly, who had lent her voice to the soundtrack of ‘Bariwali’, said, “This announcement marks a new beginning for the Bengal film industry.”Finance minister Swapan Dasgupta attended the film’s logo launch, where he expressed a desire to transform perceptions of the industry that is completely inhospitable and has restrictive practices. “The image of the film industry in Bengal that has been stuck in a time warp. That image needs to be broken,” he said, encouraging increased investment in the region.Before other investors come to Tollywood, shooting units have moved eastwards. On June 28, Suman Sen will begin shooting ‘Eka’ starring Nandita Das and Rakesh Omprakash Mehra in Kolkata. From July 24, Mani Ratnam’s Tamil film will be shot in Kolkata for some 10-11 days. Production manager Saubhik Das told TOI that he is handling three big budget projects in Kolkata, including Ratnam’s film tentatively titled Madras Talkies Production No. 23 starring Vijay Sethupathi and Sai Pallavi. “The day CM was sworn in on the Brigade parade ground, we shot Puja Kolluru’s Telegu film titled ‘Mahakali’ near the GPO. Khushboo and Rakesh Bedi were part of the Kolkata leg of shooting. They peacefully shot for 11 days,” Das said.North Bengal is witnessing a significant rise in film shooting. Line producer Bablu Banerjee noted, “Under Swarup Biswas’s regime, producers and directors were scared to shoot in our hills due to the demands. But the situation has improved significantly after Swarup’s ouster. In my career, I have never shot five films in less than a month. That’s what happened after the new govt was sworn in. Two Malayalam films, one of which had Irrfan Khan’s son, Babil, was shot in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Sikkim and Dooars. Then there was a film on boxers by Satish Raj Kasireddi. Dipayan Mandal and Jeeny Sarkar spent 20 days filming their project, ‘Kareeb’, here. Another Odia production was shot in Meghalaya.”The friction regarding the mandatory hiring of local technicians has decreased. Das explained, “Every production house is open to taking local technicians if the project requires them. But forcing a mandatory number is bad. Our responsibility is to generate work and not formulate norms that will drive away producers. Now that such norms have been abolished, we are seeing a beeline of projects that will be shot here.”
