Arshinagar

Arshinagar
Official poster
Bengali	আরশিনগর
Directed by	Aparna Sen
Written by	Sayan Biswas
Screenplay by	Aparna Sen
Based on	Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Produced by	Shree Venkatesh Films
Starring	Dev Rittika Sen Jisshu Sengupta
Cinematography	Sirsha Ray
Edited by	Rabiranjan Maitra
Music by	Debojyoti Mishra
Production company	Shree Venkatesh Films
Distributed by	Shree Venkatesh Films
Release date	25 December 2015 (2015-12-25)
Running time	151:18 minutes
Country	India
Language	Bengali

Arshinagar^[1] is a 2015 Bengali film directed by Aparna Sen. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Dev, Rittika Sen, Jisshu Sengupta, Kaushik Sen, Waheeda Rehman, Kamaleshwar Mukherjee, Roopa Ganguly, and Jaya Seal Ghosh.^[2] The screenplay is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The trailer of the film was released on 25 November 2015.^[3]

Cast

• Dev as Ranajit Mitra
• Rittika Sen as Julekha Khan
• Jisshu Sengupta as Tayyab ^[4]
• Roopa Ganguly as Tayyab's Mother
• Waheeda Rehman as Dadijaan Ji^[5]
• Kamaleshwar Mukherjee as Khan Sahab
• Kaushik Sen as Sabir Khan
• Shankar Chakraborty as Biswanath Mitra
• Subhashish Mukherjee as Purohit
• Shantilal Mukherjee as minister
• Jaya Seal Ghosh as Madhu Mitra
• Aparajita Adhya as Najma
• Swagata Mukherjee as Fahtima
• Paran Bandopadhyay
• Sadif Rayhan
• Anindya Banerjee
• Anirban Bhattacharya as Monty
• Parvathy Baul in a special appearance
• Trina Saha as special appearance
• Priyanka Sarkar as Mrs. Gupta (Herself)
• Shataf Figar (cameo appearance)

Production

Development

The film was announced to be a modern-day take on William Shakespeare's romantic-tragedy Romeo and Juliet. The film would have land mafia as its background, as told by Aparna Sen.^[6] Dev's character is based on Romeo and Rittika Sen's character to be based on Juliet. Dev would essay the role of a member of a band named, Garage Band. Rittika Sen, who made her debut in Borbaad, was selected as the lead heroine because Aparna Sen wanted someone who would look ten years younger than the lead actor, so Sen zeroed on her.^[7] Yesteryear legend, Waheeda Rehman, who worked with Aparna Sen in 15 Park Avenue, was selected to essay the role of Rittika's grandmother.^[8][9] Theatre actor Anirban Bhattacharya was initially roped to portray the main antagonist^[10] but then Jisshu Sengupta was selected to play the flamboyant negative character etched out on the lines of Tybalt, making his debut as a full-fledged antagonist. Anirban Bhattacharya was later on signed to play a supporting role. Apparently, Roopa Ganguly and Kaushik Sen had been cast as son and daughter of Waheeda Rahman, respectively. Actress Jaya Seal Ghosh and filmmaker Kamaleswar Mukherjee are also part of the film. While Jaya would play Dev's mother, Kamaleswar will be seen as Salim Saab, Rittika's music teacher. Shankar Chakraborty would enact the role of Dev's father, while Shantilal Mukherjee would essay the role of a corrupt politician.

Filming

The muhurat shot was held on 27 January 2015, whose pictures were posted by the makers on Twitter.^[11][12] Dev and Anindya Banerjee started shooting for Aparna Sen's Arshinagar at a city studio on 7 February 2015.^[13] Waheeda Rehman joined the shooting on 21 and 22 March.Kamaleshwar Mukherjee started shooting on 17 February 2015. Some scenes were filmed at the Bardhaman Rajbari in Alipore on Sunday afternoon.^[14] Besides Kolkata, shooting locations include Adina Mosque of Malda, Purulia and Mumbai.^[15]

Box office report

Arshinagar Movie's total budget was 2.3 Crores and Movie Box office collects total 1.97 crores between 10 Days only. Movie first day Collection was 38 lakhs and opening week collection was 87 lakhs.^[16]

References

1. "On the set of Aparna Sen's next". Ei Samay. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
2. "Kaushik Sen in Dev starrer Arshinagar". The Times of India.
3. "Arshinagar trailer: Watch Aparna Sen's Romeo and Juliet adaptation". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
4. "Jishu Sengupta as Dev's prime rival in Arshinagar". The Times of India.
5. "I enjoy working with Aparna Sen: Waheeda Rehman". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
6. "Arshingar". EkdinPratidin. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
7. "Dev as Romeo, Ritika as Juliet?". The Times of India. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
8. "Waheeda Rahman to share screen with Dev in Arshinagar". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
9. "Waheeda Rehman shoots for her upcoming film Arshinagar". NewsWala. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
10. "Newbie as Dev's prime rival in Romeo & Juliet!". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
11. "Muharat #Arshinagar at a glance!!".
12. "Dev poses for selfie with Aparna Sen". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
13. "In Pics: Dev turns rockstar for Arshinagar". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
14. "Exclusive Pics: Dev, Waheeda Rehman shooting for Arshinagar". The Times of India.
15. "Tollywood fundas of beating the heat". The Times of India.
16. "Arshinagar 10 Days Box Office Collection Reports". GulGal. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.

External links

• Arshinagar at IMDb
• Arshinagar On Facebook