Emperor vs Sarat Chandra

Last updated

Emperor vs Sarat Chandra
Emperor vs Sarat Chandra poster.jpg
Official poster released on November 27, 2025
Directed by Srijit Mukherji
Based on Pather Dabi by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
Produced byPradip Kumar Nandy (Nandy Movies)
Starring
Release date
  • May 1, 2026 (2026-05-01)
CountryIndia
Language Bengali

Emperor vs Sarat Chandra is an upcoming Bengali-language epic historical drama film written and directed by Srijit Mukherji. [1] Produced by Pradip Kumar Nandy under the banner of Nandy Movies, it is scheduled for release on May 1, 2026. [2] It is based on Pather Dabi , a 1926 novel written by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. [3]

Contents

On its first announcement, Dag Creative Media and Shree Venkatesh films were its producers. The cast given by Mukherjee was Sohini Sarkar, Abir Chatterjee, Tota Roy Choudhury, Rudranil Ghosh in lead roles. By new rules implemented by the film committee (IMPFA-Federation), Media and SVF dropped out, conflicting release dates of their films. Pradip Kumar Nandy, owner of Nandy Movies, became the producing house. Mimi Chakraborty replaced Sarkar by Nandy Movies and Buddhadev Das replaced Ghosh with prior discussion between Mukherji and Ghosh. Start of the shooting was delayed from November to January. The release date given by Srijit Mukherji is May 1, 2026.

Premise

Pather Dabi was published by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay in August 1926, centering the British Raj as its story. In January 1927, the novel was banned by the British colonial government (British Raj) for its revolutionary theme and for openly challenging the government. [4] Within a week, it sold out all its available copies. In 1938, Chattopadhyay died of liver cancer. The next year in 1939, the ban was lifted by the government. [5]

Cast

Production

Development and pre-production

Srijit Mukherji on screening of Begum Jaan (cropped).jpg
Srijit Mukherji is the director and song composer of the film.
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.jpg
The film is based on the work of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.

Srijit Mukherjee announced the film by posting on Twitter on the morning of August 31, 2025. He stated the film to be a period drama set in 1926, the pre-Indian independence era. He said the title of the film to be inspired from the British Indian court case about the bombing in Alipore, Emperor v. Aurobindo Ghosh . [6] Mukherji said the production to originally begin from November 2025. Among the appearances from the period depicted, Rabindranath Thakur and Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das are to appear. [7] Mukherji stated the cast to appear in the film on September 17; he did not reveal the roles of the actors in the first few days. [8]

Upon the first announcement of the film, Srijit Mukherji said that Tota Roychowdhury, Abir Chatterjee and Sohini Sarkar would be playing the lead roles, [9] with the production houses Dag Creative Media and Shree Venkatesh Films. [3] [10] With effect on the Tollywood film industry, IMPFA-Federation gave out new rules that a production house will not be able to release two films at the same to avoid conflicting the release dates of films by production houses. Production companies Dag Creative Media and Shree Venkatesh Films have a release date of May for their other separate films. [11] In November 2025, Nandy Movies replaced Dag Creative Media as a producer. Shree Venkatesh Films left as a production house of the film.

The new film poster with Nandy Movies was released on November 27, 2025. [12] Pather Dabi was adapted as a film in 1977, called Sabyasachi, starring Uttam Kumar. During the announcement of Emperor vs Sarat Chandra, Mukhherji's upcoming film Lawho Gouranger Naam Re was being shot, scheduled for release during Christmas. [13]

Casting

Nandy Movies implemented a change in the film cast. Mimi Chakraborty replaced Sohini Sarkar. [14] After a discussion with Mukherji and Rudranil Ghosh, they agreed to have Buddhadev Das to replace Ghosh. Rick Chattopadhyay replaced Satyam Bhattacharya. [15] Bhattarcharya acted in the shooting of Vijaynagar'er Hirey. Pre-production work was started in November 2025. Mukherji changed the film's shooting to start from January 2026. [16] He stated to be four total songs in the film, with two of them being Rabindra Sangeet, one song being by Srijit Mukherji and another song by Sri Jatar. [17]

This film is especially close to my heart as it
marks my debut as a music composer.

—Srijit Mukherji [16]

In 2025, Srijit Mukherji released the films Shotyi Bole Shotyi Kichhu Nei and Killbill Society . [18] In accordance with particular styles and relations with his films, he commented "Nothing of the kind is happening. I am basically making a film about the period of writing of Pather Daabi, the Bengali of that time, the events and personalities." [19] He stated the film to be an "examination of ideology and resistance against oppression." He is to appear as a composer for all of the songs in the film. [20] He announced the film celebrating the 100th anniversary of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel Pather Dabi. [21] As of January 11, the shooting has started. According to ETV Bharat, Abir Chatterjee is playing the role of Sabyasachi. He commented on the shooting, "I think this is a very important film. Because it talks about history and the people it talks about are not only our predecessors, they are also legends. [...] I will tell the rest when the shooting is over." Tota Roy Choudhury is playing the role of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. The other roles by the cast are confirmed and are not given. [22]

References

  1. "Revisiting Rebellion: 'Emperor vs Sarat Chandra' Film Unveiled". Devdiscourse. Kolkata. Devdiscourse News Desk. November 28, 2025. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  2. Butt, Ayesha (September 1, 2025). "Srijit Mukherji to direct 'Emperor vs Sarat Chandra'". DESIblitz. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 "Mimi not Sohini in Srijit Mukherji's 'Emperor vs Sarat Chandra'". Millennium Post. MPost. November 27, 2025. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Abir Chatterjee, Tota Roy Choudhury to Lead Srijit Mukherji's 'Emperor vs Sarat Chandra'". The Daily Star (Bangladesh) . Arts & Entertainment Desk. September 18, 2025. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
  5. Mohta, Nikita (September 5, 2025). "Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and a novel that shook the British Empire". The Indian Express . Kolkata. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  6. Brahma, Sanjali (August 31, 2025). "Srijit Mukherji announces Emperor vs Sarat Chandra, to release in 2026". t2ONLINE. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
  7. "Srijit Mukherji brings Sarat Chandra's 'Pather Dabi' to screen with 'Emperor vs Sarat Chandra'". The Daily Star. Arts & Entertainment Desk. September 1, 2025. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  8. "আসছে 'এম্পারর ভার্সেস শরৎচন্দ্র'! পথের দাবী'র ১০০ বছর পূর্তিতে কোন চমক আনছেন সৃজিত?". Calcutta Television Network. September 17, 2025. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  9. "Abir Chatterjee, Tota Roy Choudhury to headline Srijit Mukherji's 'Emperor vs Sarat Chandra'". The Telegraph. Entertainment Web Desk. September 17, 2025. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  10. "Abir Chatterjee and Tota Roy Choudhury to lead Emperor vs Sarat Chandra". September 18, 2025. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  11. "বাদ সাধল 'স্ক্রিনিং কমিটি'র নতুন নিয়ম! সৃজিতের 'এম্পারর ভার্সেস শরৎচন্দ্র' ছবিতে তাই বড় বদল?". Anandabazar. আনন্দবাজার ডট কম সংবাদদাতা. November 4, 2025. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
  12. "প্রথমবার সৃজিতের ছবিতে মিমি, 'এম্পায়ার ভার্সেস শরৎচন্দ্র'র কাস্টিংয়ে বড় চমক!". Sangbad Pratidin . সংবাদ প্রতিদিন ডিজিটাল ডেস্ক. November 28, 2025. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  13. কাঞ্জি, শুভস্মিতা (November 26, 2025). "Breaking: সৃজিতের 'এম্পেরর ভার্সেস শরৎচন্দ্র'-এ থাকছেন না সোহিনী সরকার! জায়গা নিলেন মিমি চক্রবর্তী?". Aajkal. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  14. "সোহিনী বাদ, সৃজিতের সিনেমায় প্রথমবার মিমি ! কাস্টিং তালিকায় আমূল বদল". ETV Bharat. ETV Bharat Entertainment Team. November 29, 2025. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  15. মজুমদার, রাহুল (January 15, 2026). "সৃজিতের ছবিতে 'উত্তমের চরিত্রে' আবীর, 'শরৎচন্দ্র'-এর ভূমিকায় 'ফেলুদা'?". Aajkaal . Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  16. 1 2 Ganguly, Raima (November 28, 2025). "Abir, Tota, Mimi to headline Srijit's next film". The Times of India . Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  17. "'এম্পারর ভার্সেস শরৎচন্দ্র' ছবিতে সোহিনীর পরিবর্তে মিমি, আচমকা কেন নায়িকা বদলের সিদ্ধান্ত পরিচালকের?". Anandabazar. আনন্দবাজার ডট কম সংবাদদাতা. November 28, 2025. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
  18. দত্ত, অরণ্যা (August 31, 2025). "নিষিদ্ধ কণ্ঠের গানে ফিরবে ইতিহাসের সুর, আসছে সৃজিতের ছবি 'এম্পারর ভার্সেস শরৎচন্দ্র'". The Wall. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  19. "ব্রিটিশবিরোধী আন্দোলন নিয়ে সৃজিতের ছবি 'এম্পারর ভার্সেস শরৎচন্দ্র', কেন এই বিষয় বাছলেন?". Anandabazar. আনন্দবাজার ডট কম সংবাদদাতা. August 31, 2025. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
  20. "Srijit Mukherji's new period film to mark 100 years of 'Pather Dabi'". ThePrint . Press Trust of India. November 28, 2025. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  21. Roy, Debolina (November 28, 2025). "Emperor vs Sarat Chandra: Srijit Mukherji's bold adaptation of a literary classic". Indulge Expres. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  22. "কতদূর এগোল সৃজিতের 'এম্পেরর ভার্সেস শরৎচন্দ্র'র কাজ ?". ETV Bharat . ETV Bharat Entertainment Team. January 11, 2026. Retrieved February 15, 2026.