Arifin Shuvo No More a Part of Fourth Apu Film

RBN Web Desk: Bangladeshi actor Arifin Shuvo is no more a part of the fourth Apu film ‘Avijatrik’. He was earlier slated to play the main protagonist Apu in the film being directed by Subhrajit Mitra.

Apu is all set to return to the big screen six decades after the last film hit the theatres. ‘Apur Sansar’, the last film in the trilogy, released in 1959 and marked the debut of Soumitra Chatterjee in the title role. The new film will be based entirely on the concluding part of ‘Aparajito’ written by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. The plot of the new film will take off from where ‘Apur Sansar’ ended.

Popular television actress Ditipriya Roy has been roped in to play Apu’s wife Aparna in the new film. The role was played by Sharmila Tagore in ‘Apur Sansar’ which was also her debut film.

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Sources in the industry believe that Shuvo has been relieved from the project because of the recent controversy centring Bangladeshi actors working in India. It may be recalled that popular Bangladeshi actor Ferdous Ahmed, who arrived in India on a business visa, had sought votes on behalf of Trinamool Congress candidate Kanhaiyalal Agarwal in an election rally. Agarwal is contesting the Raiganj seat in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. Ahmed’s visa was subsequently scrapped. That aside, actor Gazi Abdun Noor was repatriated to Bangladesh when he was found staying in India after the expiry of his visa term. Noor played Rajchandra Das in the hugely popular Bengali TV serial ‘Karunamoyee Rani Rashmoni’. It seems the production house bankrolling ‘Avijatrik’ wants to stay clear of any controversy, and decided not to cast any Bangladeshi actor in the film. However, Shuvo’s replacement in ‘Avijatrik’ has not been announced, sourced added.

Arpita Chatterjee plays Apu’s close friend Leela in ‘Avijatrik’ while Sabyasachi Chakraborty has been cast as an adventurer in the film.