Classics to reel - Devi Chowdhurani way

🖊️Arpita Roy

Bengal's legendary Bandit Queen, Devi Chowdhurani finds her deserved spotlight at IKBF 2025! The classic makes an appearance with a twist. 

Mr. Subhrajit Mitra, national award winning film maker, was present at the SBI Auditorium to talk about his latest creation which will hit the theaters in May, 2025. Along with India’s greatest versatile musician Maestro Bickram Ghosh, Professor under department of English in Jadavpur University, Dr. Paromita Chakravarti and Mr. Srijato, the teaser of the movie “Devi Chowdhurani - The Bandit Queen of Bengal" was unveiled in front of the audience.  

In conversation with Dr. Paromita Chakravarti, talking about the uniqueness of the movie, Mr. Subhrajit admitted to not following the novel page to page and his plans of turning this into a trilogy starring the "Queens of Bengal". “How big as a rebel Prafulla aka Devi Chowdhurani was to the Britishers was the main thing I wanted to bring to life. But the legacy is maintained,” he commented.

Leading the conversation towards music, Mr. Bickram Ghosh confessed that it was quite tough making music for this movie. Mr. Subhrajit's passion to reach above mediocrity, in his film making and music was commended by Mr. Ghosh. 

In his last notes, Ghosh raised the question of comparing classical to modern music. To this Subhrajit boldly blamed film makers for promoting music of poor taste to the audience. His deep love for classical was apparent in his words. Seconding him, Srijato shared, “A filmmaker should never forget about the basics of Indian heritage and the importance of classical music especially in period films.” 

The panel concluded that movies should not degrade the literary sense of a story, but elevate it.