1. Sauraseni Maitra (centre) plays the role of Olokhhi and Paroma in the film, with Srabanti Chatterjee and Sneha Chatterjee (left). “I have never played a character like this before. The kind of shades that the character has convinced me to do this role. In this character, I have no make-up at all since it is a slice-of-life film, and I am very comfortable with it. Working in this huge team feels like home. I love coming back to Benaras. It is my 19th or 20th time! (Laughs) What’s interesting is that such empowering roles for women are being written, and on subjects that are surprisingly relevant still,” said Sauraseni. Sneha Chatterjee, a shadow character of Bhabani(Srabanti’s character) in the film, plays Kajol. “She has a history. We can’t call her a dark-shaded character completely. She has past experiences that come back to her. Kajol has weird body language and looks, which I am enjoying the most while doing this film,” said Sneha.

2. “I usually don’t act much other than doing cameos in my own film because direction has taken priority. When I am acting, I keep my director self in the cupboard. I am a complete director’s actor. This film was shot in certain locations where I directed my film Har Har Byomkesh, so the set-up was very familiar to me. Benaras has a different energy. A must for me in Benaras is bringing back laal peda for family and friends, and having the lassi with malai and less sugar,” said Arindam Sil playing the role of Swami Karunananda in the film, captured during the boat ride shot. “It is an anti-character and that always attracts me as an actor. I like characters that challenge me to emote,” said Sil

3. It was Oindrila Bose’s (left) first trip to Benaras for a shoot but her second time in the city, after a solo trip recently. “My character is Putul who becomes a victim of the inner politics of the ashram. This character is very different from the ones I play on TV. I love that it has many shades. The medium of films is new to me. In this film, I almost worked from scratch with Raajhorsheeda,” said Oindrila about her debut role for the big screen. Devlina Kumar (centre) as Sumoti, a widow with a different dimension to her character. “There are some secret desires she has which are considered forbidden for widows but she indulges in them. I am working for the fifth time with Raajhorsheeda. I am very much influenced by Bollywood as a person, so an ensemble cast really interests me. I always think if I give my best, my role will always stand out. I was on a food spree while shooting in Benaras. (Laughs) I used to have lassi for dinner every day,” said Devlina.

4. Rwitobroto Mukherjee who plays Sunil, a lower-middle-class boy staying in Benaras, with Sauraseni, checking the monitor after their shot on a ghat. “At a very tender age, Sunil’s father came to Benaras. He works at his father’s sweetmeat shop and is also engaged in various illegal activities to earn money. Sauraseni and I are a pair in this film for the first time after the brother-sister bond popularity we had from our previous film (Generation Ami). Benaras is essential to the story. This film captures an unholy side of the city. To most people, Benaras is a holy place where nothing unholy can happen. That’s not true. And so the subject explored in this film is an important social and political stand,” said Rwitobroto.

As filmmaker Raajhorshee De recently wrapped up the shoot of his fifth film Sada Ronger Prithibi, t2 goes back to the two days spent with his team, capturing behind-the-scene moments of their shoot in Benaras, one of the oldest living cities in the world. It was the beginning of the scorching summer months and we followed the team through the lanes and bylanes, climbed down flights of steep stairs, made stops at various ghats and took innumerable boat rides on the Ganges to capture stills from the shoot of this film based on the gruesome subject of widow trafficking.

Conventionally known as an “abode of widows”, the city of Benaras was a major location for the film, while the rest was shot in Calcutta. And like many films, where a location takes the shape of a character in the film, t2 witnessed this religious capital of India become that for Sada Ronger Prithibi. Snapshots and excerpts from conversations with the cast and crew from the shooting floors: