Any list or listicle that features movies shot in Kolkata always ends up being about Kahaani and Gunday, Yuva and The Namesake. And Parineeta, with its reimagined set-constructed Moulin Rouge. But why should the same movies, watched a zillion times, have all the ‘joy’ of the city? So, I have picked films that brought Kolkata and its outskirts to life but are not really known as Kolkata movies. The ones which celebrated the city without going to town about it.
1. ‘Cat Sticks’ – MUBI
Photographer-turned-filmmaker Ronny Sen looks at Kolkata with fresh eyes as he narrates the story of one rainy night in a city desperate to get high. The black-and-white film that created quite a stir in Slamdance, was shot in lesser-known parts of Kolkata, industrial areas in Howrah, and even inside and outside a discarded Kingfisher Airlines aircraft in an abandoned film city.
2. ‘Pari’ – Netflix
Unlike anything that has been made in Kolkata, this moody, atmospheric horror flick, directed by first-timer Prosit Roy and produced by Anushka Sharma, was shot everywhere from bamboo groves in Bantala to libraries in Hatibagan. And yes, that’s the Broadway Bar in Chandni Chowk where Parambrata Chattopadhyay goes for a drink.
3. ‘Te3n’ – Netflix
From the same stable that made Kahaani, this film directed by Ribhu Dasgupta, adapted from a Korean thriller, gets all muddled up in its complicated plotting, but cinematographer Tushar Kanti Ray beautifully captures usually-overlooked parts of Kolkata and its suburbs, getting Bachchan and Balan to hop everywhere from the Writers’ Buildings to the Imambara in Chinsurah.
4. ‘Lion’ – Netflix
The award-winning Hollywood biggie from Australia wasn’t just about Nicole Kidman and Dev Patel, it was also about a different Kolkata, as seen through the eyes of the helpless five-year-old Saroo. As captured by cinematographer Greig Fraser, the city looks chaotic, overwhelming and even dangerous, whether the heritage houses of north Kolkata or the bustling Howrah station.
5. ‘Chippa’ – Netflix
Sunny Pawar, who won hearts as Saroo in Lion, returns as the 10-year-old Chippa here. He lives on the footpath outside Chittaranjan Hospital and meets all kinds of people from the underbelly of Kolkata in the course of an unforgettable night. Directed by Safdar Rahman, who himself grew up in the Park Circus neighbourhood, Chippa shows a Kolkata ignored by those who base their stores in this city for Victoria Memorial and Vidyasagar Setu.
6. ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!’ – Amazon Prime Video
In his quest for authenticity while adapting Saradindu Bandopadhyay, director Dibakar Banerjee shot his World War II mystery thriller in parts of Kolkata that were the lifeline of the city in the early 1940s — from Presidency College to Bow Barracks.
7. ‘Lootera’ – Netflix
Whenever Mahendra Shetty has looked through the lens, the frames have looked so very special. In Vikramaditya Motwane’s adaptation of O. Henry's The Last Leaf, Shetty really brings alive the Itachuna Rajbari as the zamindar house, and then slices right into Kolkata proper with Mocambo after Ranveer Singh has done his ‘job’.
8. ‘Revelations’ – Cinemapreneur
A Tamil arthouse film that premiered in Busan, Vijay Jaypal’s debut feature uses Kolkata “as a constant presence and the main character in the film”. Tracking the lives of a writer and an unhappily married couple, this disturbing portrait of isolation snakes through the city in many a yellow taxi from north Kolkata to new Kolkata.
P.S.: Mainstream Bengali films have not been considered, given almost all of them are shot in Kolkata.
Pratim D. Gupta is an Indian journalist, film critic, screenwriter and film director. Find him on Twitter @PratimDGupta.