Devi Chowdhurani starring Prosenjit Chatterjee and Srabanti Chatterjee has achieved the milestone of being the first Bengali-language film to gain official Indo-UK co-production status, confirmed its director Subhrajit Mitra recently.

This status was granted by India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, NFDC, FFO, Invest India, and the UK’s BFI and DCMS.

Devi Chowdhuran is produced by ADited Motion Pictures and LOK Arts Collective, while HC Films and Moringa Studios from the UK serve as co-producers. The period drama also features Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Arjun Chakraborty, Darshana Banik, Bibriti Chatterjee and Kinjal Nanda in key roles.

“A huge round of applause for ADited Motion Pictures and Lok Arts Collective, and big big thanks to I&B ministry of Government of India and BFI of Government of UK for this collaboration,” wrote Subhrajit on social media.

“It's been a privilege to work with Aniruddha Dasgupta, Aparna DG, the Producers duo and Soumyajit Majumdar, the co-producer. Their enterprising endeavour and a constant urge to expand the global market of Bengali films has resulted in this historic collaboration which will be a game changer for the filmmakers who dare to dream big,” the National Award-winning filmmaker added.

Currently in post-production, Devi Chowdhurani is an adaptation of Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay’s 1884 novel of the same name. It tells the story of a young woman named Prafulla who transforms into the legendary bandit queen Devi Chowdhurani. Set in 18th-century Bengal, the novel explores themes of social justice, rebellion and women’s empowerment against the backdrop of British colonial rule.