Anurag Kashyap labels Bengali cinema ‘GHATIA', Parambrata Chatterjee reacts to filmmaker's comment

Parambrata Chatterjee has replied to filmmaker Anurag Kashyap's claim that Bengali cinema is "ghatia". Parambrata said that mainstream commercial Bengali film has lost popularity.Parambrata broke his silence on Anurag's remarks when he joined Srijit Mukherji for a SCREEN LIVE session in Kolkata. During the discussion, Parambrata replied to Anurag’s remark that Bengali cinema is “ghatia” (poor) in comparison with other regional cinema.

Parambrata said, “We have stopped focusing on mainstream commercial Bengali cinema. If mainstream cinema in any industry doesn’t work, making any other kind of film is very difficult. Because the audience size should be that big that you can eat out of that. Our kind of cinema (alternative cinema) thrives on surplus. If there is no steady inflow, then there is no surplus. There is an alienation that happened in 2011. While Bengali cinema was seeing a resurgence of sorts through filmmakers like Srijit da, Kaushik Ganguly and others, who were making middle road Bengali films, the industry unexpectedly shifted away from making big massy Bengali entertainers.”

The actor also chastised Bengali filmmakers for producing low-quality remakes of South films that have failed to attract the interest of the Bengali public. He added, “Very loosely and carelessly made South remakes were dished out to the masses. Audience didn’t react to that very well as they found the same films being dubbed in Hindi and being aired on national channels, so they didn’t want to go back and watch these cheap Bengali remakes of South films. The audience size of Bengali cinema kept reducing. Big chunk of West Bengal doesn’t watch Bengali cinema because they feel nobody cares about them. So, it is important that mass entertainers are made in Bengali cinema and that they fetch money so that other kind of cinema can be made.”

Meanwhile, Parambrata Chatterjee is seen alongside Srijit Mukherji in film, Shotyi Bole Shotyi Kichhu Nei. The film is an official adaptation of the 1989 Hindi movie Ek Ruka Hua Faisla, a remake of the iconic American classic 12 Angry Men.

Meanwhile, Parambrata Chatterjee appears with Srijit Mukherji in the film Shotyi Bole Shotyi Kichhu Nei. The film is an official version of the 1989 Hindi film Ek Ruka Hua Faisla, which was a remake of the legendary American film 12 Angry Men.

Anurag's statement

Last year, Anurag said that the quality of Bengali films has declined in recent years. The Kennedy director discussed it during the opening of the first Kolkata French Film Festival. He also attended a session where he discussed Bengali movies.

He stated that the decline in the quality of Hindi films is less pronounced than the decline in Bengali cinema. Bengali films used to be in a far higher position. And hence, the fall is so evident,” he said.