Pritish Nandy's Tribute To Kishore, Bengali musical Options

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Whatever happened to the genre of Bengali musicals that wooed the collective consciousness of all Bengali movie-buffs? Bengali films that also entertained with immortal songs of Hemanta Kumar and Sandhya Mukherjee have sadly not had many promising successors in the recent past.

An occasional Megh pioner deshe, O bondhu, E keora, Majhi re or a Tumi chhara haven’t given reasons to celebrate a happening Bengali playback scene. As for the genre of Bengali musicals, it’s been buried with an epitaph written to seal its fate. Things, however, are all set to change once Pritish Nandy gets started with his maiden Bengali musical.

The buzz is that Nandy is eager to make a musical that would pay a tribute to Kishore Kumar. More specifically, it would bring back the favour of the singer-actor’s Lukochuri that had married music and comedy to give pure entertainment to the viewers. What will set Nandy’s musical apart even from the more recent Alo, is its technical finesse. Shot on a budget of more than a crore, the film will have the look and smartness of a Hindi musical like Jhankaar Beats.

When CT got in touch with Nandy about this project, he admitted to being in talks with writers for making this musical. “I’m very confident about this project,” confirms Nandy, adding, “It’s very important for us to first get the screenplay right. The musical will be based on the premise of Music and Lyrics.”

For those who came in late, Music and Lyrics is a romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant as a washed-up 1980s pop star and Drew Barrymore as a former English literature major. The film narrates the story of their efforts to write a song for a singer and their subsequent romance. “We plan to have a film that’s similar in spirit but structured differently. If the screenplay comes completely close to the original, we will surely seek the rights,” Nandy says.

Sources say that Nandy’s project should kick off around the Pujas. For the Bengali film industry, the moot point, however, is whether he will give scope for Kolkata directors, considering that he has already expressed his desire to make a Bengali film by the Jhankaar Beats’ director Sujoy Ghosh? “It’s most important to have a great screenplay. In my production, a director just comes in to make the movie. In any case, I am open to working with directors from Kolkata who want to make modern, urban and fun movies or thrillers,” he says.

Meanwhile, Nandy has also discussed this project with singer Babul Supriyo. “Babul ke bolechhi,” he says, without divulging any further. Babul, on his part, says, “I thoroughly enjoyed my acting experience in Chander Bari. I’ve always dreamt of being a part of a Bengali film that has a simple storyline and great songs. I have had an inspiring chat with Pritishda. I believe that with his guidance and acumen, we will come up with something exciting.”If the project truly takes off, the news will surely be music to the ears of every Bengali movie-buff.