Outdoor Shoot Scrapped, First Shonku Film Put on the Backburner

Kolkata: Professor Shonku O El Dorado, the first Shonku film to feature the hugely popular fictional scientist created by author-filmmaker Satyajit Ray, has been put on the backburner following the arrest of Shrikant Mohta. The SVF cofounder was rounded up by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 24 January on charges of an alleged ₹24 crore fraud in the ₹17,000 crore Rose Valley chit fund scam. SVF is the production house bankrolling the film.

Professor Shonku O El Dorado is being directed by Sandip Ray with veteran actor Dhritiman Chatterjee playing the title role.

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A source close to SVF informed the media, the company has adopted a go-slow policy on several big-budget films that are either under production, or are slated to hit the floors soon. The Shonku unit was supposed to visit South America next week for the outdoor shoot of the film. That has now been scrapped, sources informed.

Earlier, in November, the unit had visited the Amazon to shoot several outdoor sequences. However, they had to return midway after Chatterjee fell ill, keeping most of the work pending.

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Sources in SVF informed that financial transactions of the company could now come under CBI scanner. As a result, they have now decided to refrain from heavy expenditures that may attract unwarranted attention of the central agency, sources added.

Professor Shonku O El Dorado is slated to release in December this year. That seems unlikely under the present circumstances.