Will Bangladeshi actor Ferdous Ahmed be replaced in the role of Bilash Bihari in another Tollywood feature film being made on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s popular novel “Datta?”
The question is doing the rounds as Ferdous faces difficulty in getting a fresh visa to visit India after he had to return to Bangladesh abruptly following cancellation of his visa over a controversy about his participation in a procession by a Trinamool Congress candidate in parliamentary elections in April-May.
Some sequences featuring Ferdous in the proposed film, being directed by debutant Nirmal Chakroborty, were shot earlier this year.
"Since Ferdous is having some difficulties in getting a fresh visa, we might have to reshoot the sequences involving him, with a fresh character. We will take a final decision in this regard by mid-November," Chakraborty said. The movie is being shot at West Bengal's Birbhum district.
The director said he believes Bengali cinema lovers still crave for cinematic adaptations of literary works if original storylines are followed.
Rituparna Sengupta has been cast as Bijoya, a liberated Brahmo lady, while Joy Sengupta will play the role of Naren. Sengupta said, after being offered the role, she re-read the novel and was struck by the character who was ahead of her times in many ways.
"The way Nirmalda has fleshed out my character in the script, I am identifying with Bijoya in many ways. We hope the film to be released by mid-2020," she said. 'Datta' had earlier been adapted into films in 1951 and 1976. In the 1976 version directed by Ajoy Kar, legendary Suchitra Sen had played the role of Bijoya. Chakraborty said he would use songs of Rabindranath Tagore and Rajanikanta Sen in the movie.
