Favourite Destination
After the success of Kahaani which catapulted to national fame a host of little known Bengali actors, Calcutta has suddenly become a favourite destination for Bombay film industry directors hunting for talent. The latest buzz is that a number of actors and actresses have been roped into play various characters in Raj Kumar Gupta’s film, Ghanchakkar starring Vidya (Bidya?) Balan and Emraan Hashmi. Of course, Bengali actors have always played key roles—literally—in Bombay— the likes of Ashok and Kishore Kumar to Sharmilla Tagore, Rakhee and Rani Mukherjee, to name a few. But the difference is that now the cast comprises large numbers of Bengalis even when it’s not a Bengali movie. Perhaps it started with films like Pradip Sarkar’s Parineeta (though there could be others before that) where Raima Sen, Saif Ali Khan (at least half-Bong) and others were cast along with Vidya Balan. Then it moved onto films like Kahaani, which had Dhritiman Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Saswata Chatterjee (who played the iconic Bob Biswas) and others playing supporting roles to main actor Vidya Balan (again!). In fact, come to think of it, the phase is not about Bengalis and Bollywood...it’s about Bengalis, Bollywood and Bidya Balan.