Cinema of West Bengal, also known as Tollywood or Bengali cinema, is the segment of Indian cinema, dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Bengali language widely spoken in the state of West Bengal. It is based in the Tollygunge region of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The origins of the nickname Tollywood, a portmanteau of the words Tollygunge and Hollywood, dates back to 1932. It was a historically important film industry, at one time the centre of Indian film production. The Bengali film industry is known for producing many of Indian cinema's most critically acclaimed global Parallel Cinema and art films, with several of its filmmakers gaining prominence at the Indian National Film Awards as well as international acclaim.
Raja Sen is an Indian film and television director and the winner of three National Film Awards from Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He is the father of Subhasree Sen and Sreyoshri Sen.
Meghe Dhaka Tara is a 2013 Indian Bengali film directed by Kamaleswar Mukherjee and made under Shree Venkatesh Films banners. The film is inspired from the life and works of Bengali film director Ritwik Ghatak. The entire film is in black and white except the last scene which has been shot in colour. In this film Saswata Chatterjee plays the character of Nilkantha Bagchi and Ananya Chatterjee plays the role of Durga, Nilkantha's wife. The film was released on 14 June 2013. Besides giving an account of Ghatak's life, the film also depicts the socio-political environment of contemporary West Bengal during the Tebhaga and Naxalite movements.
Aschorjyo Prodeep is a 2013 Indian Bengali-language film directed by Anik Dutta. The film is based on a short story by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay. It is Dutta's second feature film as a director. The film's theatrical trailer was released on YouTube on 26 October 2013 while the film was released on 15 November 2013 in Kolkata. The film deals with the unfulfilled aspirations of an everyday couple whose dreams never become a reality and as they try hard to excel in life. Anilabha discovers a magic lamp from which a genie emerges and is able to take him to unseen heights in life that he never reached before and also life of extreme luxury and fortunes. How they adjust and cope with their new-found lives forms the rest of the story.
Byomkesh was a 2014 Indian Bengali crime fiction television series based on the Bengali sleuth Byomkesh Bakshi created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. The series starred Gaurav Chakrabarty, Saugata Bandyopadhyay and Ridhima Ghosh as Byomkesh Bakshi, Ajit and Satyabati respectively. The series premiered on 20 November 2014 on Colors Bangla channel and ended on 14 November 2015. This series is re-runned on 4 March 2024. The first episode was narrated by Sabyasachi Chakrabarty.
Checkmate is an Indian Bengali television thriller series which aired on Star Jalsha from 21 January 2012 to 15 June 2012.
Goyenda Ginni was an Indian Bengali crime drama anthology television series that premiered on 7 September 2015 to 25 December 2016 and aired on Zee Bangla. It was produced by Shree Venkatesh Films, it starred Indrani Haldar, Saheb Chatterjee, Aditi Chatterjee and Indrajeet Bose. It marks the comeback of Haldar into Bengali television. It replaced the show Raage Anuraage. It got back in March 2020 due to COVID-19 situation. This Show is 4th time repeat telecast on Zee Bangla on 13 May 2024. It fetched a highest trp of 8.0.
Mahanayak was a Bengali drama television series of 112 episodes that premiered on 27 June 2016, on Star Jalsha. The series starred Prosenjit Chatterjee, Paoli Dam, Tanushree Chakraborty, Priyanka Sarkar, Manali Dey, Biswanath Basu and Biswajit Chakraborty in lead roles. The series is loosely based on the life of megastar Uttam Kumar.
Hoichoi Unlimited is a 2018 Indian Bengali-language comedy, action thriller film directed by Aniket Chattopadhyay. The film produced by Dev Entertainment Ventures features Dev, Koushani Mukherjee, Puja Banerjee, Roja Paromita Dey, Arna Mukhopadhyay, Kharaj Mukherjee and Saswata Chatterjee in lead roles. The initial shooting was completed on locations in Kolkata before the unit moved to Uzbekistan. The movie has been released in Bengali, along with Arabic, Hindi, English and several other international languages. The film has also been released in Russia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
Nabyendu Chatterjee was an Indian Bengali and Hindi film director and producer. A director of twelve feature films and three documentaries, Nabyendu has curved out a sure niche for him in the field of serious and useful cinema of India.
Netaji is a Bengali biographical soap opera on the life of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose that premiered on 14 January 2019 and aired on Bengali GEC Zee Bangla. Based majorly on Udyata Kharga Subhash by Achintya Kumar Sengupta and produced by Surinder Films, the series stars Abhishek Bose in the eponymous role, with Basabdatta Chatterjee, marking her comeback on television, Dhruvajyoti Sarkar, Kaushik Chakraborty, Sriparna Roy, Debopriyo Sarkar, Sohan Bandopadhyay, Fahim Mirza appearing in other recurring roles. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the shooting of the series was stalled. It was rumoured that along with Karunamoyee Rani Rashmoni, this series will be axed the channel. Putting rest to such rumours, the shooting started from June 11 and new episodes started to air from June 15, 2020.The show went off air on 1 st August 2020.
Sreemoyee is an Indian Bengali drama serial that aired on Star Jalsha. It was produced by Magic Moments Motion Pictures Pvt. Ltd of Saibal Banerjee and Leena Gangopadhyay, and premiered on 10 June 2019. The show stars Indrani Haldar in the title role. After a successful run of two-and-a-half years it went off-air on 19 December 2021.
Ek Akasher Niche is a Family Drama Bengali television serial, which aired on Alpha Bangla. It was produced under the banner of Ravi Ojha Productions. The story is about a middle-class family that deals with various challenges and complications on a daily basis and fights all odds to stay united. With over a thousand episodes that aired in early 2000s the serial was a mega-blockbuster hit in Bengal and other Bengali language dominant parts of the world.
8/12 Binay Badal Dinesh is a 2022 Bengali-language historical drama film directed by Arun Roy, and produced by Kan Singh Sodha. It is based on the historical attack on Writers' Building by three Bengal Volunteers in 1930. The film was released on 26 January 2022 under the banner of KSS Productions and Entertainment.
The 5th Filmfare Awards Bangla ceremony, presented by The Times Group, honor the best Bengali language Indian films of 2020–2021. The nominations were announced on 14 March 2022. The ceremony was held on 17 March 2022 in Kolkata. Borunbabur Bondhu and Tonic shared the award for Best Film. The Award Show was aired on 24 and 30 April 2022 on Zee Bangla and Zee Bangla Cinema respectively. The show was hosted by Abir Chatterjee, Sohini Sarkar and Anirban Bhattacharya.
Jagaddhatri is an Indian Bengali language Romantic Thriller Drama television series that premiered from 29 August 2022 on Zee Bangla. The show is produced by Snehasish Chakraborty of Blues Productions and stars Ankita Mallick and Soumyadeep Mukherjee in lead roles.Currently,it is one of the most successful show of Bengali Television.
