Amazon Obhijaan earns Rs 5.5 cr in first week, sets record: Bengali film industry 2017 box office report

Kolkata: Of the 50 odd Bengali films released in 2017, only two ran for over 100 days while another has created new box office record one week after it hit the screens. [caption id=“attachment_4286781” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Still from Amazon Obhijaan. Screengrab via YouTube[/caption] Posto, directed by Shibaprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy, and Sahaj Paather Gappo, which won two national awards for its two child actors, crossed 100 days. For Amazon Obhijaan, a tale of adventure in Brazil set in 1920 and released during Christmas, its first week’s box-office collection of Rs 5.5 crore sets a record. Other Bengali films released this year did average or poor business. Posto, starring popular actors such as Jisshu Sengupta and Mimi Chakraborty, was released in 100 theatres in West Bengal and other parts of the country in May and was taken off from theatres after mid-August, the producers said. “New generation parents find it difficult to look after their only child. The child is attached to his or her grandparents and is affected by difference in value system of two generations,” Shibaprosad said about Posto. “These issues probably had a connect with the Bengali audience who like our way of telling stories,” he said. Independent Bengali film Sahaj Paather Gappo (Colours of Innocence), has currently been running for over 112 days in single screens. An independent film is a movie produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies. Manas Mukul Pal whose directorial debut is Sahaj Paather Gappo, said, “We wanted to tell a story in a simple way. A story which reflects the world beyond our cities and drawing room.” The success of Sahaj Paather Gappo reaffirms the faith in Bengali audience, the director said. Amazon Obhijaan emerged as the top grosser among all Bengali films released in last five years, with first weeks box-office collection crossing Rs 5.5 crore, Eastern India Motion and Producers Association sources said. The film, released on 22 December, notched up Rs 1 crore box office collection on 25 December, the sources said. Kaushik Ganguly’s partition-themed film, Bishorjan, released during mid-April, ran for 50 days staving off challenges from a big Bollywood production. “I always believe the audience will back a film with good content. Bishorjan delivers the message that humanity and love remain over and above all religions and I am vindicated by the audience response,” Kaushik said. Atanu Ghosh’s Mayurakshi, starring Soumitra Chatterjee and Prosenjit Chatterjee, got houseful audiences in single screens and multiplexes in city ever since its release on 29 December. Other prominent films during the year included Srijit Mukherjee’s Yeti Obhijaan, Mainak Bhaumik’s Bibaho Diaries, Pratim D Gupta’s Machher Jhol and Anjan Dutta’s Byomkesh O Agniban.