Rituparna to play top cop Damayanti Sen in a film?
TNN | Apr 7, 2018, 03.05 PM IST
When a gun-toting, venom-spewing Rani Mukerji beat up goons during undercover operations in one of her films, Bollywood welcomed her tough cop act. Since then, a lot has changed in the Hindi film industry, which is churning out women-oriented films by the dozen. Even though such movies are few and far between in Bengal, all’s not lost. Riingo Banerjee’s next directorial venture, Dayamanti, will see Rituparna Sengupta get under the skin of a bike-riding cop, who engages in hand-to-hand combat and gunfights.The title of this action thriller bears an uncanny resemblance to Kolkata’s first woman joint commissioner of police (crime) Damayanti Sen. She hit the headlines in 2012 for cracking the infamous Park Street gang-rape case, inviting adoration for her quick action. “My film is loosely based on women police officers who do us proud, like Kiran Bedi. You can say it is Tollywood’s answer to the Rani Mukerji-starrer Mardaani. The film deals with the legal and judicial system and how Kolkata police functions. Rituparna plays the lead character called Dayamanti Sinha,” shared Riingo.
As expected from a crime film, there are some intense action scenes for which Rituparna has been trained by teams from Assam and Kolkata. “It’s absolutely a fictitious character and an original story penned by Riingo. Though not a biopic, my character works like Damayanti
Sen; she’s dauntless and sharp in solving cases,” said Rituparna.The film has another interesting aspect to it. It will be made into a three-part franchise film, much like the Shabor franchise, and a book on it will be released soon. “As we speak, the book is being written,” said Riingo. For the Bengali film-loving audience, this is a definite plus. The freshness of the script, the unusual projection of the leading lady and the cast of the film promise an edge-of-the-seat experience. Moreover, the actress will be caught in a never-seen-before avatar.
Bratya Basu (playing Rituparna’s mentor), Kaushik Sen, Sayantani Sengupta, Ananda Ghosh, Arun Banerjee, Sanghamitra Roy Chatterjee, Shataf Figar, newcomer Avik and child artiste Tanish are part of the cast. Music is scored by Dibyendu and the title track will be rendered by Rupam Islam.To be shot in and around Kolkata, the team is preparing to shoot the riot scenes at a film city in Midnapore. Revolving around a crime, which involves the murder of an autistic child’s parents, the film will go on the floors from April 18 and is slated to release by the end of this year.
As expected from a crime film, there are some intense action scenes for which Rituparna has been trained by teams from Assam and Kolkata. “It’s absolutely a fictitious character and an original story penned by Riingo. Though not a biopic, my character works like Damayanti
Sen; she’s dauntless and sharp in solving cases,” said Rituparna.The film has another interesting aspect to it. It will be made into a three-part franchise film, much like the Shabor franchise, and a book on it will be released soon. “As we speak, the book is being written,” said Riingo. For the Bengali film-loving audience, this is a definite plus. The freshness of the script, the unusual projection of the leading lady and the cast of the film promise an edge-of-the-seat experience. Moreover, the actress will be caught in a never-seen-before avatar.
Bratya Basu (playing Rituparna’s mentor), Kaushik Sen, Sayantani Sengupta, Ananda Ghosh, Arun Banerjee, Sanghamitra Roy Chatterjee, Shataf Figar, newcomer Avik and child artiste Tanish are part of the cast. Music is scored by Dibyendu and the title track will be rendered by Rupam Islam.To be shot in and around Kolkata, the team is preparing to shoot the riot scenes at a film city in Midnapore. Revolving around a crime, which involves the murder of an autistic child’s parents, the film will go on the floors from April 18 and is slated to release by the end of this year.