Alaap, the upcoming Bengali film directed by Premendu Bikash Chaki, slated to release on April 26, has a star-studded cast and one of the most appreciated on-screen pairs — Abir Chatterjee and Mimi Chakraborty, who’re playing Pablo and Aditi. The trailer revealed how it’s a unique take on human relationships and interactions. In Alaap it’s about two corporate professionals who work for different shifts in the office, and share a flat but have never met each other. However, a sense of familiarity and bond grows between the two from the notes they stick on the refrigerator. Produced by Surinder Films, Alaap’s cast includes names like Swastika Dutta, Kinjal Nanda, Tonni Laha Roy and Debopriyo Mukherjee.

Mimi aced her lavender-hued make-up to go with her luminescent one-shouldered top and white tracks at the trailer launch

“I feel the first interaction between two people is very important. But for our film, Aditi and Pablo’s ‘alaap’ or interaction is out-of-the-box, whether they’ve met or not interacted at all, their method of interaction is a bit unique. It’s not the usual interaction that we experience or we know of,” said Abir Chatterjee at the trailer launch at Tall Tales in the Fort Knox building on Camac Street.

After the success of Raktabeej, Abir Chatterjee and Mimi Chakraborty have paired up once again for this much-awaited romcom. “Abirda is the heartthrob of all Bengali women! His head is in the right place when it comes to balancing his career and he’s remained the same person that I had met before starting my career in the film industry. That’s why I consider him my family and have really engaging conversations,” said Mimi Chakraborty who’s playing the role of Aditi, a much-relatable character from the corporate world. Whether you’re battling with time to reach office on time, or you’ve overslept or your boss thinks you need to be serious, the trailer revealed how Mimi aces her appearance and role in the film.

“I have known Mimi since she was a student and beginning her career, so we both have seen each other’s journey in the film industry and share a bond both on and off-screen. There’s a sense of comfort. We talk about a lot of things. This actually helps us both to play our characters. We’re at ease when we gauge our roles and figure out how and why our character is reacting in a certain way and how to go about it. I’m very proud of Mimi and the way she’s grown and I wish her all the best,” said Abir.

Anupam Roy

Anupam Roy has composed the music for Alaap. While Abohawa bole dey is a melodious number sung by Somlata and Rohan Basu, Dibaratrir kabyo has been sung by Lagnajita Chakraborty and Anupam. “The theme of the movie is about interpersonal relationships and human interactions, something that has driven me,” said Anupam.

“The feedback from the trailer has been amazing. I’m particularly happy about two common opinions that I have received. Firstly, friends from the IT industry have told me how much they relate to the visuals and characters that the trailer revealed. Secondly, people can sense a love story of a completely different flavour, one that they look forward to. People are also complimenting the freshness of the film and telling me how excited they are about seeing Abirda and Mimi as a pair again. There is a whole lot of curiosity about Swastika’s role in the scheme of things,” said Debopriyo.

Debopriyo Mukherjee and Debolina Biswas

Meanwhile, Chaki elaborated on the thought behind selecting this title. “In today’s fast-paced world people interact with each other but the old-world charm and essence or warmth of the interaction is somewhere lost. They probably meet each other while working in the IT Sector. But it’s not like the ‘alaap’ people were so well-versed with, before. I feel the human touch is lost... these days we focus more on social media and our gadgets now. In my films, I try to choose themes that give out a simple message, that people from all walks of life can relate to, grasp. I give utmost preference to acting and as actors, Abir and Mimi are stalwarts, their chemistry is superb,” said the director.