Renowned Bangladeshi actor, Chanchal Chowdhury is acting in his first Tollywood film in the role of Mrinal Sen for the biopic “Padatik” about the late legendary filmmaker's life.
“Padatik”, a birth centenary homage to the filmmaker is set to be released in the fall of 2023.
Chowdhury was unable to recognise himself in the photo used by US magazine, Variety's published article on the film.
The actor states, “When I first saw the picture, it took me a while to figure out whether the photo was of me or Mrinal Sen. It was a lovely feeling. What a wonderful job by makeup artist Somnath Kundu!”.
Chanchal elaborating his thoughts on the subject states, "On the occasion of Mrinal Sen's birth centenary, the famous magazine 'Variety' published an interview of me, director Srijit Mukherjee and producer Firdausul Hasan on this biographical film. While mourning the recent passing of my father, I managed to finish work on the film 'Padatik' where I am playing Mrinal Sen. Our producer wants to see 'Padatik' on-screen in both Bengals at the same time when it is released in cinemas this year.”
Chanchal, thanking the director for the “important role” notes, “I have immense gratitude for Srijith for choosing me to play such a challenging role."
The Bangladeshi actor told Variety about his role and 'Padatik', “Just having similar features is not enough for a biopic, especially on a legend like Mrinal Sen. My attempt was to convey the sense of Sen's inner man. I took up that challenge. People may know Sen's films, but not necessarily his principles and it was our responsibility to convey the sense of the creator to the audience.”
Notably, Kolkata's Monami Ghosh is playing the role of Mrinal Sen's wife Geeta Sen in the film. The shooting of the film has been completed, the release date is to be announced soon.
