If you are looking for a movie to watch this weekend with your friends and family, here is a nice recommendation. Durga Puja is going on and there is nothing like a movie about Puja itself to watch with your loved ones to enjoy the moment.
Here is a very enjoyable movie that will suit perfectly to the mood of the time and you will get a crash course of Bengali culture as well. The movie is ‘Mahalaya’ and is available to watch on Zee5. The movie is written and directed by Soumik Sen and tells the story of how an epic blunder was made by Aakashvani in 1976 when they decided to change the regular Mahishasur Mardini record and make a new program with Bengal’s matinee idol Uttam Kumar. This went on to be the biggest flop of Uttam Kumar’s career and also resulted in people demanding the original program by Birendrakrishna Bhadra which still goes on every Mahalaya.
The movie stars some of the biggest stars of the Bengali industry. Prasenjit Chatterjee is there, Jishu Sengupta, Koushik Sen, Saptarshi Ray, Kanchan Mullick, Subhashish Mukhopadhyay and more. The performances are good and all the departments are well executed.
Debojyoti Mishra has given wonderful music in the movie and the cinematography is handled by Mrinmoy Nandi. ‘Mahalaya’ runs for one hour and forty eight hours and is a wonderful movie to watch during the Pujas. Do not miss the chance and give it a try on Zee5.