Mainak Bhaumik’s film Cheeni, which had enjoyed a 100-day run in the theatres, focused on the ever-changing dynamics between a mother (Aparajita Adhya) and her daughter (Madhumita Sarcar). Its success was another reminder that it’s very important for a Bengali film to be primarily and essentially grounded in Bengali culture and its people. Now, Mainak is all set to start the shoot of Cheeni 2, starring Aparajita Adhya, Madhumita Sarcar, Anirban Chakrabarti and Soumyo Mukherjee. “After I made Cheeni I felt there was so much I could do with these two actors, Madhumita and Apadi, and play with more fun stuff. The idea wasn’t to do a continuation as sequels usually are. I wanted to do a metaphoric continuation about a young girl who befriends a woman who’s her mother’s age and they help each other solve each other’s love stories. You can say this is a ‘what if’ movie. Being back on set with my family members is wonderful. To collaborate with Apadi and Madhumita is always a pleasure,” says Mainak.
Cheeni 2 is a BFF movie about besties from two different generations. “What if a young millennial girl were to befriend a middle-aged mother of two? The metaphor of the mother figure stays the same but here sometimes who’s the mother shifts. Sometimes, as besties do, there’s a role reversal of being the older one. I wanted to tell a story about besties with a generation gap. Cheeni 2 is more of me finding my way back to rom-coms and films I’ve always loved where the biggest obstacle in a character’s life is themselves,” says Mainak.
Talking about casting Anirban and Soumya, Mainak says: “I always felt two strong actors I’d like to work with who have tremendous comic and emotional range were Anirban who plays Mishti’s (Aparajita) husband Shubho who seems to be hiding something shady, and Soumya Mukherjee who plays a confused guy called Sammy who Cheeni takes a liking for. Soumya and Anirban are two actors who made me want to re-step into my Mach Mishti.... days and do that kind of fun and range. You just know they’d take the script out of the park. Both are brilliant actors and it was more of a wish fulfilment rather than anything else.” The music of the film is by Prasen er Dolbol and the cinematography is by Modhura Palit.
