Parambrata Chattopadhyay’s Abhijaan is exactly as promised: a film that melds documentary and scripted drama into a tribute to an acting l...
Parambrata Chattopadhyay’s Abhijaan is exactly as promised: a film that melds documentary and scripted drama into a tribute to an acting legend.
Soumitra Chatterjee plays Soumitra Chatterjee – an octogenarian actor looking back on his life, grappling with a family tragedy, and examining his legacy. Though Chatterjee dialogue is scripted, it has the ring of authenticity to it since it has been inspired by previous conversations between the actor and the filmmakers.
Parambrata Chattopadhyay further muddles the conventional biopic by casting himself as Sanjoy, a London-based oncologist who arrives in Kolkata to make a documentary about Chatterjee. Abhijaan is based on research and a script by Subhendu Sen, also an oncologist.
Abhijaan was premiered at the International Film Festival of India in Panaji. It’s among the Bengali actor’s final projects. He died on November 15, 2020, soon after completing his portion of the shoot.
The movie attempts to come to grips with a multi-faceted figure – an actor, poet, theatre personality and public intellectual who stayed away from electoral politics but espoused Leftist thought throughout his life, as he tells Sanjoy in the film. “Communism has helped me cope with different situations in life,” Chatterjee says.
One of the big questions on Sanjoy’s mind is the contradiction between the celebrated public figure and...
