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.
Deepak Adhikari, known by his stage name Dev, is an Indian actor, producer, singer and screenwriter, known for his works in Bengali cinema and more recently, a politician. He is also a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha representing Ghatal since 2014, as a candidate from the All India Trinamool Congress party. He owns the production house Dev Entertainment Ventures.
Srijit Mukherji is an Indian film director and screenwriter who predominantly works in Bengali cinema. His regular collaboration with veteran actor Prosenjit Chatterjee brought him into the limelight. His first feature film Autograph (2010), was a critical and commercial success, where he had written the script with Chatterjee in mind. His fifth film, Jaatishwar, won four national awards at India's 61st National Film Awards (2014). He won the National Film Award for Best Direction and Best Original Screenplay for his sixth film, Chotushkone, at India's 62nd National Film Awards. His eighth film, Rajkahini had been remade into a Hindi film titled, Begum Jaan, starring Vidya Balan in 2017. His 2018 release Ek Je Chhilo Raja won the 'Best Bengali Film' Award at India's 66th National Film Awards. His 2019 film Gumnaami won him the Best Bengali Film and Best Adapted Screenplay Awards at the 67th National Film Awards.
Challenge 2 is a 2012 Indian Bengali-language action thriller film directed by Raja Chanda. Produced by Shrikant Mohta under the banner of Shree Venkatesh Films. The movie is a remake of 2011 Telugu movie Dookudu which itself was inspired from German film Good Bye, Lenin! (2003). It stars Dev, Puja Banerjee, Tapas Paul, Ashish Vidyarthi and in lead roles, alongside, Rajatava Dutta, Kharaj Mukherjee, Subhasish Mukherjee and Kaushik Chakraborty in another pivotal roles, with Biswanath Basu and Labani Sarkar in guest appearances. The film is a spiritual sequel to the 2009 film Challenge, but contains a very different storyline. It revolves around an undercover officer as well as IPS Abhiraj Roy, who is on a mission to bring down the dreaded don Guru Nayak. But all on a sudden tragically he transforms into an MLA to fulfill his father's wish, who was in coma after meeting an conspiring accident as he was an honest and celebrated politician amongst the masses.
Chandan Sen is an Indian Bengali-language stage, television and film actor, playwright and director.
Bidipta Chakraborty is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Bengali films. She had appeared in Debesh Chattopadhyay's play Brain.
Bachchan is a 2014 Bengali action thriller film directed by Raja Chanda and produced and distributed under the banners of Reliance Entertainment and Grassroot Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. The film features actors Jeet, Aindrita Ray and Payel Sarkar in the lead roles. It is an official remake of the 2011 Kannada film Vishnuvardhana.
Kelor Kirti is a 2016 Indian Bengali language action comedy film. It was directed by Raja Chanda and produced by Shrikant Mohta and Nispal Singh under the banner of Shree Venkatesh Films and Surinder Films. The film stars Dev, Sayantika Banerjee, Jisshu Sengupta, Ankush Hazra, Mimi Chakraborty, Nusrat Jahan and Koushani Mukherjee.
Rukmini Maitra is an Indian actress and model. After having established herself in the world of fashion, Maitra made her debut in films in 2017 with the film Chaamp. She acted in seven films with Dev. She had her Bollywood debut opposite Vidyut Jammwal in the 2021 film Sanak.
Deepak Adhikari who is widely called as Dev, is an Indian actor who works primarily in the Bengali film industry. He made his acting debut with the Bengali film Agnishapath although it ultimately turned up to be a commercial failure. He later signed up Ravi Kinagi's Bengali film I Love You which was the actual breakthrough for his career in Tollywood.
Kabir is a 2018 Indian Bengali-language action thriller film written and directed by Aniket Chattopadhyay, starring Dev and Rukmini Maitra which was released on 13 April 2018.
Password is a 2019 Indian Bengali-language vigilante action thriller film directed by Kamaleswar Mukherjee. The film stars Dev, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Paoli Dam, Rukmini Maitra while Adrit Roy and Trina Saha played supporting roles. The film revolves around the dark side of social networking, and deals with stealing of password and privacy issue.It was released on 2 October 2019. Upon release, the film received critical acclaim, where critics praised the concept, action sequences, visual effects, message, music and cast performances. Despite receiving critical acclaim, the film didn't managed to do well at the box-office.
Prothoma Kadambini is an Indian Bengali television biographical period drama based on the biography of the first practising female physician of British-ruled India and South Asia, Doctor Kadambini Ganguly. The show aired on Bengali General Entertainment Channel Star Jalsha and is also available on digital platform Hotstar, that was premiered on 16 March 2020. The show is produced by Shree Venkatesh Films and stars Solanki Roy and Honey Bafna in lead roles. The show went to off-air on 28 February 2021.
Saat Paake Bandha is an India and Bengali-language television soap opera that premiered on 5 July 2010, and aired on Bengali Zee Bangla. The show starred Oindrila Sen and Vikram Chatterjee in lead roles.
Kishmish (transl. Raisins) is a 2022 Indian Bengali-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Rahool Mukherjee. This film is jointly produced by Dev Entertainment Ventures and M. K. Media. The film stars Dev and Rukmini Maitra. The supporting cast includes Kharaj Mukherjee, Anjana Basu, June Malia and Kamaleshwar Mukherjee.
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.This is also being broadcast in Zee Sarthak as "Jagruti" by dubbing into Odia. Currently,it is one of the most successful show of Bengali Television.
Boomerang is an Indian Bengali-language science fiction action comedy film directed by Sauvik Kundu. Produced by Jeet under the banner of Jeetz Filmworks and Grassroot Entertainment, it stars Jeet and Rukmini Maitra,both portraying dual roles. Sourav Das, Ambarish Bhattacharya, Kharaj Mukherjee and Rajatava Dutta play other pivotal roles.
Tekka (transl. Ace) is a 2024 Indian Bengali-language vigilante crime thriller film co-written and directed by Srijit Mukherji. Produced by Gurupada Adhikari and Dev under the banner of Dev Entertainment Ventures, the film is based on a story by Bhaskar Chattopadhyay. It stars an ensemble cast consisting of Dev, Swastika Mukherjee, Rukmini Maitra, Paran Bandyopadhyay, Sujan Mukherjee, Aryann Bhowmik, Sreeja Dutta and Aameya in lead roles, with Kaushik Sen, Tota Roy Chowdhury, Sudeshna Roy and Srijit Mukherji himself in special appearances. The film follows Iqlakh, a poor janitor dismissed from a office in Sector-V, who kidnaps a little girl and takes her hostage for 48 hours in order to demand his lost job.
