Decades after Ritwik Ghatak's classic focussed on the group theatre activities in culturally vibrant Kolkata, a young director now brings back the topic under the scanner again in new flick 'Hoi Choi'.
"Hoi Choi centres round the relations among members of an upcoming theatre group where the character of Paoli Dam is the leader of the team who is pitted against the character of Rahul Banerjee, who is the playwright," director Debarati Gupta said.
"The film talks about the tussle between leading members of a group, all of whom want to create their own space, despite everybody being passionate about theatre. There is no direct real life reference, but yes we the cast members and the director had in mind several such incidents in past," the 'Meghe Dhaka Tara' actor Rahul said.
"There had not been any film directly referring to the world of group theatre ever since the Ritwik classic 'Komol Gandhar' was made in Bengal," he said.
"The story dwells on the hassle faced by unsuccessful theater aspirants who resolve to create a new group due to the failure of the previous one," director Debarati said.
"The film talks about the existential crisis of young theatre activists going through various moods of desperation and ambition. I want to pay tribute to Bengal's group theatre movement which has enriched the country's theatre heritage and culture," the director said.
With the Academy of Fine Arts, the hub of group theatre productions for decades, playing an important backdrop in the movie, Debarati said "That was imperative for adding realistic element to the movie."
"We had to get permission to shoot at the place as my film will be nothing stripped of the reference of theatre landmarks of the city," she said.
Finding real life resonance, upcoming actor Vikram, now turning up in the Big Boss reality show in Bengali, said "I am revisiting my college fests and my stint as a vocalist-lyricist of my college troupe.
"Hoi Choi is a film belonging to an altogether different genre.
