Team Pilkunj recently got together to launch the trailer of the KLIKK series at Drunken Teddy. Sean Banerjee, Trina Saha, Shankar Debnath, Joey Debroy, Devtanu, Brishti Roy and more star in Arnab Riingo Banerjee’s new series Pilkunj, which streams from August 31. “The launch was enormous and unexpected. People were in tears and we saw them give high fives and request a replay. That truly made my day. When we sat to edit the trailer there were ideas floating and I was lucky to have Sugata Guha, Ohendrila Banerjee, Anirban Chatterjee and Monishankar Debnath as idea doctors and I think it was around 3am when we cracked it. The idea was simple... make it look and sound big... and it should be something that normally one does not get to see on OTT. The subject itself drove the trailer,” said Riingo.

This is a series based on real events that took place in north India in 2017. A scandal erupted in a small village hamlet next to a tiger reserve. Many people died because of several tiger attacks, and there was a “sinister plan” behind these unfortunate incidents. To verify the truth behind these incidents, a journalist, Siddharth, goes over from Calcutta to this village in the guise of a keen photographer. In this grim adventure, he meets a female doctor Bidita, who teams up with him. She was attached to the local health centre. A deadly pursuit takes the narrative through many twists and turns in the tale across a jungle and wild river terrains.

“When I first saw the trailer of Pilkunj at the launch venue, I was quite in awe. Not for having witnessed the spectacular trailer in front of my eyes, but to see the people’s reaction! I was more busy noticing their reactions than the trailer because everybody was so exuberant and all praises for the cut that it gave me goosebumps! The entire place was filled with great joy and contentment while I stood still and was processing it all. I think I watched the trailer properly when I went back home for at least about 50 times that night... I was so excited. Ever since then, I am so glad that people have been coming up to me at events, parties and gatherings, even professional meetings, enquiring about the release of Pilkunj,” said Sean.

“Pilkunj has been the most difficult and yet loved project to date for me. From the actors to the director, everyone was amazing to work with. I hope the series gets a sequel and becomes more adventurous,” said Trina.

For Riingo, Pilkunj is his tribute to mark the 50 years of Project Tiger. “In 2017 a scam was exposed in one of the tiger sanctuaries in North India which shook the decision-makers in the echelons of power. What made the incident so striking was the fact that the ones who were sacrificed, did it willingly for the compensation their kin would receive post their death.
Here one would blame the tigers initially and mark them as maneaters, till the truth was exposed and the dark side of the human mind was brought to light. The scam was put to an end but the chilling facts of the sacrifice still haunt the people who witnessed the gruesome episodes in the hamlet of North India. This was a story worth telling and thus I decided to make it,” said Riingo.

“The trailer has created some kind of an impact on people. This is beyond just a project. Those 13 days were an experience of a lifetime. It was like setting sail on a beautiful ship with a daring team and a mighty captain. We didn’t really know where we were going, but the destination wasn’t important, it was the journey. Replete with its highs and lows, but more than anything else, it showed us what we can create, if we put in our hearts and commit to work united together. I’m grateful to KLIKK for my second stint with them. They’re always game for trying challenging formats of storytelling,” said Sean.

“We keep raising the bar, and have now backed one of our biggest adventures with Pilkunj. Our second outing with Riingo was more ambitious and novel in terms of production, scale and content curation. Everyone in the process contributed tirelessly in a difficult terrain, to present a series which speaks for itself. The sheer cumulative effort roars convincingly in the trailer,” said Niraj Tantiya, director, KLIKK.

(Top) Sean strikes a pose against a tiger-themed taxi that was flagged off from Tollygunge to create awareness about tiger conservation; (Bottom) Riingo

(L-R) Joey, Devtanu, Soham and Ohendrila