Mamata story now on screen
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is the latest political personality to have caught the fancy of the film world.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is the latest political personality to have caught the fancy of the film world.
The Press Club at Kolkata will be abuzz with unusual activity on December 2.
Reason: This is the location chosen for the inaugural shoot of a Bangla film on the personal and political struggles of Banerjee. Appropriately titled Didi, the proposed two-hour biopic on the dynamic and mercurial leader is being filmed by debutant director Bidyut Sarkar.
West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s character is parodied as Subbhodeb Bhattacharya. The Banerjee lookalike is being called Maya Banerjee, a role being essayed by young theatre artiste Ruma Chakraborty.
“I feel overwhelmed to have the chance to portray a character as inspiring as Didi,” Chakraborty said.
“Weaving into West Bengal’s political drama of the last 40 years, the film will seek to capture incidents of Banerjee’s life including her struggles at Nandigram, Singur and Lalgarh — the several occasions that she has been brutally beaten up in police lathi charge,” Sarkar said.
“The film will seek to illustrate the central theme that the forces of non-violence (read Mamata Banerjee) eventually come to prevail on the dark forces of violence,” added Sarkar, who has also scripted the film.
Sarkar expects to complete shooting the film in 23 days, hoping it will be ready for release by January-end.
Trinamool leaders have little clue about the film. “I met Banerjee once and requested her do the playback for a Rabindra Sangeet song. Didi neither said yes nor no,” Sarkar said.
“We have also heard that such a film is being made. But this director has not met us,” said a Banerjee aide. “We have not authorised the film,” Trinamool spokesman Sudip Bandopadhyaya said.
