The official trailer of the film Akorik, produced by Iceberg Creation LLP, was released by Rituparna Sengupta at an event at HHI. Directed by Tathagata Bhattacherjee, Akorik, starring Rituparna Sengupta, Victor Banerjee and Anuradha Roy, is a story about a relationship between an elderly man, and a boy, who lives with his mother who is a single parent.

The man and the boy, from two different generations, develop an emotional bonding despite their different upbringing and eventually share a philosophical journey together. The film addresses the disintegration of the Bengali joint family structure. Akorik is an attempt to discover whether the disintegration of the joint family structure has helped us be more independent or has it made us drift away from our roots and it tries to look into the situation and tries searching for an answer.

Akorik was officially selected for screening in the Bengali Panorama section of the 28th Kolkata International Film festival (KIFF) 2022 and the film was screened at Rabindra Sadan and Nazrul Tirtha. Akorik has also been a participant in the NFDC Film Bazaar 2022 held in Goa.

“Akorik is a family film on a global social issue. While a joint family can be seen as traditional, perfect and loving but at the same time, it can also be seen as restricting, conservative and rigid, and, Akorik tries to grasp these concepts while portraying the bond between the 75-year-old man and a 10-year-old kid,” says Deepak Pareek, the creative co-producer of the film.

{L-R) Anuradha, Tathagata

Rituparna on Akorik

Tell us about your character...

She is fiercely brave and opinionated, she tries to bring up her little child with love, affection and discipline. Though she is not perfect she still tries not to fail with her experience and sacrifice. She is an author and scriptwriter with mood swings and agony.

As Srijita I felt very closely associated with the character because interestingly when I was going through the scenes I felt that a part of me is like Srijita who has dealt with and is dealing with the problems of a mother. I always feel that tension inside me... dealing with the problems of a busy mother.

You worked with Victor Banerjee for this film....

Victor Banerjee is an icon... he has given such great performances both nationally and internationally. He has always lived his life on his own terms. He is a witty man with infectious energy. Whenever I work with him it’s different and beautiful, I have done so many films with him. He is a great talent and always thinks out of the box. He also pulls pranks on set. Jovial and agile, Victorda is a delight to work with, he is so educated and well-read. I have excellent memories to recall with this most sought-after actor... the first being the film Lathi with the great Prabhat Roy, which won a National Award.

What was the first thing you told Victor upon meeting him and what did he tell you?

The first thing he said was: ‘Hari Om’ as he addresses everyone... and said: ‘Wow the most attractive lady, how are you doing my dear?’ I was shooting that time, and he suddenly popped up... and from nowhere... and said see how I surprised you.

How excited are you about this reunion?

I am really excited about this reunion... I’m really happy to see us coming back in a film after so long, so many great memories... we all have changed over the years but few things never change... like our inherent nature and our attachments. We spent wonderful moments in the make-up rooms, chatting and sharing lunches, engaging in soulful conversations over snacks as well... to see Anuradhadi after so long was so beautiful... we did so many films together. She still looks the same! Glowing and gorgeous.