It was his desire to work with the doyen of the Bengali film industry, Soumitra Chatterjee, that drove filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh to direct "Ahalya", a 14-minutes short thriller, which has been getting rave reviews.
Ghosh's Kolkata-set, Bengali film has taken a page out of Hindu mythology, in which Ahalya, the wife of the sage Gautama Maharishi, was seduced by Indra and cursed by her husband for infidelity.
The "Kahaani" helmer has given a modern twist to the story, starring Radhika Apte and Tota Roy Chowdhury, besides Soumitra.
"I am a big fan of Soumitra da. I always wanted to work with him and not just as an actor but I wanted him as a hero in my film. So, that was one primary reason for me to do 'Ahalya'. It does not mean that Tota and Radhika were not important but it is just that I always had this dream to collaborate with dada," Sujoy told PTI over phone from Kolkata.
"Ahalya", which released yesterday, has already received more than three lakh views overnight, and word-of-mouth is helping the film gain momentum.
Ghosh said only a "fearless" actor like Soumitra could have taken upon the challenge of doing this film and tackling the role of Goutam Sadhu, an ageing artist, who is married to a much younger woman.
"He was very excited about it. It is also a new thing for him and he is fearless. He is not afraid of taking up challenges. Co-incidentally he was looking to work in a project like this, so everything fell into place," the director said.
"Ahalya" is a venture of Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films.
