Rituparna in Chowringhee, Srijit Reveals Final Cast and Film Name
RBN Web Desk: Director Srijit Mukherji, known to go at any length to convince an actor to be a part of his project, has roped in Rituparna Sengupta to play a special role in his upcoming adaptation of author Mani Shankar Mukherjee’s cult novel Chowringhee. The novel was earlier adapted on celluloid, with the same name, by Pinaki Mukherjee in 1968.
Speaking to the media about the final cast of his film, Srijit said, Jisshu Sengupta is no longer a part of the project since he is yet to fully recover from his gall bladder surgery. With the film slated to go on the floors later this month, Jisshu is unlikely to be fit for the role on time, Srijit added.
Jisshu was supposed to play Anindya Pakrashi in Srijit’s film, which was earlier played by Biswajit Chattopadhyay in 1968.
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Prosenjit Chatterjee too, who was earlier cast as the iconic Sata Bose, has excused himself from the project. The role was played by Uttam Kumar in the first film.
Prosenjit, according to industry sources, was reluctant to play Sata Bose since the beginning. His reasoning was, Uttam Kumar was 42 years old when he played Sata Bose, and his then look perfectly fitted the character. Prosenjit said that he is now 55 and will look much older to play the role of a hotel front desk manager. The hospitality industry has undergone a huge change over the years and front desks are now handled by younger staff. The actor even met the chief of the production house bankrolling the project, to make Srijit understand his reasons for opting out, sources added.
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Besides Rituparna, the actors finalised for the new adaptation include Parambrata Chatterjee, Anirban Bhattacharya, Kanchan Mallick, Rudranil Ghosh, Sujoy Prasad Chatterjee, Swastika Mukherjee, and Ritika Sen.
The film was announced on 29 January. Only three actors from that cast—Mamata Shankar, Anjan Dutt, and Abir Chatterjee—have been retained.
Anjan Dutt will be seen as the hotel owner Maro Polo, the role played by Utpal Dutt in the 1968 film. Srijit said the character will be renamed. Mamata Shankar and Abir will play Mrs Pakrashi and the main protagonist Sankar respectively.
The working title of the new adaptation is Shahjahan Regency.
