For every aspiring director, the biggest task is to find a suitable producer. Though Bengali film industry has seen some talented directors in the last decade, funding remains a prevalent concern.
In this regard, the case of Director Ujjwal Basu’s upcoming Bengali feature film Doodhpither Gach is very notable. We are all more or less acquainted with the idea of crowd funding in the corporate world. A number of start-ups are crowd funded these days. But this time, an entire village in Bengal has come forward to crowd fund Basu’s movie.
The film has been shot in a small village – Arongghata – in the state’s Nadia district. This village is inhabited by more than 27,000 people. The most amazing thing is more than 950 families of this village have crowd funded a sum of Rs 19, 00,000, solely for the film.
Sadly, in the world of entertainment and glamour, creativity has no option other than compromising with reality. Nevertheless, Arongghata’s villagers proved otherwise, highlighting the locals’ commitment toward the project, which promises to be a different. Not only some villagers, but also students from this area have acted in this regional feature film. Shooting of the film has been done in Arongghata and its adjacent areas.
Notably, it is not that the director was unable to find a producer to fund this movie, which is centred on 7-year old Gaur, who fumbles frequently while speaking. Director Basu noted, “For the past two decades, we’ve been exhausted of listening to remarks about the lack of appreciation of regional movies among the state’s rural crowd. Hence, we wanted to engage people in the entire process of filmmaking. But honestly speaking, I wasn’t expecting a response this brilliant. The people of Arongghata have been very cordial and this journey will remain special for the entire unit”.
Veteran cinematographer Santanu Banerjee, who has been actively associated with several projects acknowledged, “This film transcends to a different level altogether and I believe the audience will have a different feel with Gaur’s journey and magic realism. I have been part of so many outdoor shooting but this has been an unique experience. The way the villagers stood by us, with their love and commitment, is actually the perfect tribute to the legacy of Bengali films”.
The film’s post production is likely to begin anytime soon. A hall release of Doodhpither Gach is anticipated before Durga Puja.
Here’s hoping that Dudhpither Gach ushers in a new beginning for Bengal’s cinema.
