‘Sahorer Upokotha’ marks Ashraf Shishir’s film journey in Tollywood

Bangladeshi filmmaker Ashraf Shishir has collaborated with young Tollywood filmmaker Shuvro Jyoti Basak, better known as Bappa, for the latter’s debut film titled ‘Sahorer Upokotha’.

Based on acclaimed Indian playwright Badal Sarkar’s popular stage play ‘Baki Itihash’, the script of the film is written by Ashraf Shishir. Meanwhile, a first look poster of the film was unveiled featuring seasoned actor Subhasish Mukhopadhyay.

In the film, Subhasish will be seen playing the role of late Bengali dramatist Badal Sarkar.

The film also features Joy Sengupta, Rahul Banerjee, Bidipta Chakraborty, Anindya Banerjee, Basabdatta Chatterjee, Rajat Ganguly, Lama Haldar, Pradip Bhattacharya, Sandip Mandal, Aritra Dutta, Debranjan Nag and Arpan Bose in various roles.

Shot in various locations of Kolkata city and produced by Shree Krishna International Films, ‘Sahorer Upokotha’ is expected to release in September.

“Badal Sarkar wrote ‘Baki Itihash’ in 1965, yet it’s so relevant today. It’s a story about the moral decay of our society. How can we just sit and watch when our society slowly decays? That’s the subject of my film,” director Bappa said regarding ‘Sahorer Upokotha’.

Padma Shri award winning Bengali playwright Badal Sarkar died in Kolkata in 2011. His ‘Baki Itihash’ is the story of a couple who independently scrutinize the reasons behind a suicide case after they read a news report on it. According to critics, psychological causes of suicide are focused in the play.

Ashraf Shishir is known for directing films like ‘Gariwala’, ‘Gopon’, ‘Amra Ekta Cinema Banabo’ and ‘570’. Of these, ‘Gariwala’ participated in many international film festivals and bagged various awards ,including the Best Documentary Film at the 39th National Film Awards in Bangladesh.

Currently, Shishir is awaiting release of the film ‘570’, written and directed by him based on the assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, starring Bappy Chowdhury, Masum Aziz, Shadhin Khasru, Sumona Soma, Kazi Raju and Elina Shammi in pivotal roles.