Team Shohorer Ushnotomo Dine got together for the premiere of the film at INOX, South City recently. Aritra Sen’s film starring Vikram Chatterjee and Solanki Roy is a coming-of-age love story of two Calcutta-bred individuals, Ritoban and Anindita. Life poses a second chance for their unrequited love, when Ritoban, a disillusioned PhD student in London, returns to Calcutta after three years and bumps into Anindita, his college sweetheart who is now a successful RJ.

“The response has been brilliant. Our film is getting a lot of love. There have been 20 houseful shows and almost full shows in the first weekend itself. People are talking about a love story in Bengali after a long time. The first Sunday, once multiple halls started going houseful, I got a call from a distributor. He congratulated me and said that the film is a hit. And recently a famous producer called and told me the same thing,” smiles Vikram.

“The response has been overwhelming. Nandan ran houseful for five days on the trot. Sunday was incredible as all the major halls in the city and outskirts were above 90 per cent full. We visited the halls and we saw all kinds of people connect. Some were overjoyed, some were crying and some were still in the afterglow unable to speak… this is the best moment as a director when your cinema creates moments of magic for the crowd,” smiles Aritra, who feels that the film resonated with the audience since it was telling their story. “It’s the story of urban displacement which Calcutta has faced for the last 40 odd years. Love stories have been cut short. Misunderstanding between friends brewed and then again there is the warm hug — a sublime feeling of homecoming in the film. This was making the audience connect with their own journeys. People were staying with the film even beyond the end credits. They were reminded of similar situations and incidents. Also, the chemistry of Vikram and Solanki was electric. This added to the enigma,” adds Aritra.

For Aritra, the best compliment came from a girl in Radha Studio who was there with her boyfriend. “She was about to leave the city soon. She broke down saying this was her life’s story. I was really touched by this. Another close second was a lady doctor in her 60s who said she could relate to her friends from medical college long back and told me this was a timeless tale binding generations through the character of Calcutta,” says Aritra.

Pictures: Pabitra Das