Proloy (Bengali: প্রলয়; English: Disaster) is a 2013 Indian Bengali language socio-political action-crime thriller film co-written and directed by Raj Chakraborty, produced by Shree Venkatesh Films, starring Parambrata Chatterjee, Paran Bandopadhyay, Saswata Chatterjee, Rudranil Ghosh, Supriyo Dutta and Mimi Chakraborty in lead roles. This movie is inspired on the life of Barun Biswas, a social activist and teacher.[1] The film's music is by Indraadip Dasgupta in his second collaboration with Banerjee, with 2 additional tracks by Nilesh Dasgupta. The film was critically and commercially well received and the performances along with the direction was praised. Due to multiple creative differences, this was Sonali Banerjee's last film with Shree Venkatesh Films. Sonali Banerjee named the film Roshni after her sister who was raped and killed and said that the movie was a tribute to her. Throughout the years, the film has gained a cult status and is often regarded as Raj Chakraborty's best film.[2]
| Proloy | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Raj Chakraborty |
| Written by | Raj Chakraborty |
| Produced by | Shree Venkatesh Films |
| Starring | Saswata Chatterjee Parambrata Chatterjee Mimi Chakraborty Paran Bandyopadhyay |
| Cinematography | Supriyo Dutta |
| Edited by | Bodhaditya Banerjee |
| Music by | Indraadip Das Gupta |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
| Country | India |
| Language | Bengali |
Plot
editA gang of criminals terrorize the village of Dukhia in rural Bengal, where gang rapes have become common. Both children and aged females are victims. Complicit police authorities refuse to take action against the barbaric criminals because they enjoy an unholy patronage of a local political leader who takes his power and clout for granted. Overcome by a sense of social responsibility, idealist local teacher, Barun Biswas stands up and confronts the scourge and forms an activist group named 'Jagaran Mancha'. They agitate against political patronage the criminals enjoy and demand their immediate arrest. The criminals murder Barun while he was returning from school. Binod Bihari Dutta, who met Barun before his death and was inspired by his idealistic, socially responsible thinking, is shocked to know of Barun's death and rushes to Dukhia to give justice to his memory. He learns of the menace and depravity, the criminals have subjected the village to and the fact that after Barun's death, the criminals were released by the corrupt police officers. Binod Dutta tries to motivate villagers like Barun had done before to continue their fight against this malaise. Special Branch Officer, badass no-nonsense cop Animesh Dutta's posting at Dukhia comes as sweet serendipity, almost divine intervention. He learns of Barun Biswas and his murder from Binod Dutta but friction develops between Binod's idealistic struggle and Animesh' unconventional and semi-legal ways. Mysteriously, the criminals are being murdered one after the other. Rumors float in the village that Barun has returned from the dead to punish his killers. Animesh suspects 'Jagaran Mancha' and believes these killings to be revenge for Barun's murder. He vows to Binod Dutta that he will protect the last criminal as it his duty as a police officer and a public servant. It is revealed that Binod Dutta has been killing the criminals all along in ingenious ways with the help of a few 'Jagaran Mancha' members. After Binod kills the last criminal by ripping his stomach open, Animesh rescues him from the scene, and drops him off outside the village. Animesh has a Machiavellian perspective at the whole thing and decides to bury the case. In the last scene Animesh says he's just become a father and he's going to name his son, "BARUN".[2][3]
Cast
edit- Parambrata Chatterjee as Barun Biswas[4]
- Paran Bandopadhyay as Binod Behari Dutta[5]
- Saswata Chatterjee as Inspector Animesh Dutta[6]
- Mimi Chakraborty as Durga[6]
- Rudranil Ghosh as Prashanta Mondal [7]
- Padmanabha Dasgupta as Arun Biswas, Barun Biswas's brother
- Koushik Roy as Nikhil[7]
- Siddhartha Mondal
- Dwaipayan Das as Sujoy
- Diya Mukherjee as Minister's daughter
- Rupa Bhattacharjee
- Supriyo Dutta as Minister Asim Mondal
- Pooja Bose as Special Dancer in "Kala Koi Geli" Item Song[8]
Soundtrack
editThe film's soundtrack is composed by Indraadip Dasgupta. Two additional tracks were composed by debut composer Nilesh Dasgupta. Singers Nandini Sarkar and Rajat Taneja were introduced in this film as well as Antara Ganguly. The songs were all runaway hits with Hath Dhoreche and Kala Koi Geli being the biggest chartbusters. The making of the song Hath Dhoreche was also released later by Sangeet Bangla. Director Raj Chakraborty stated that the entire song was shot in a situation when the atmospheric temperature was about 35 °C, resulting in quite a hardship for the entire cast and crew. For this song, Shreya Ghoshal won Best Female Vocalist.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Aaye Re" | Arijit Singh, Antara Ganguly | 04.37 | ||
| 2. | "Haath Dhoreche" | Srijato | Indraadip Dasgupta | Shreya Ghoshal | 04:09 |
| 3. | "Kala Koi Geli" | Prasen | Indraadip Dasgupta | Shalmali Kholgade | 04.41 |
| 4. | "Baje Bina" | Nandini Sarkar, Rajat Taneja | 05.15 | ||
| 5. | "Roshni Elo" | Prasen | Indraadip Dasgupta | Arijit Singh, Anweshaa, Sayani, Palit, Indradeep Dasgupta | 04:13 |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8. | "Ghum Paranir Gaan (Based on the main theme by Sonali Banerjee)" | Srijato | Indraadip Dasgupta | Arijit Singh | 03:18 |
| 9. | "Ghum Bhanganor Gaan" | Angshuman | Indraadip Dasgupta | K. Mohan | 02:25 |
Spinoff
editA spinoff named as Abar Proloy was streamed online on Zee5 OTT platform on 11 August 2023. with return of characters from its film, the plot is based on rise of Human Trafficking's incidents in sundarban region in district of South 24 Parganas
References
edit- ^ "Did you know Abir was first choice to play Barun Biswas in Raj Chakraborty's 'Proloy'". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ a b "7 years of 'Proloy': Why Raj Chakraborty's political thriller packs a punch even today". The Times of India. 10 August 2020.
- ^ "Real life woman abuse incident taken up in Bengali film". Business Standard India. 8 July 2013.
- ^ "'Proloy', 'Praktan' – 5 must watch Bengali films". The Statesman. 12 December 2017.
- ^ "I can still give young actors a run for their money: Paran Bandopadhyay". The Times of India. 11 January 2017.
- ^ a b "Raj Chakraborty shares a throwback picture from the sets of 2013 hit 'Proloy'". The Times of India. 27 July 2018.
- ^ a b "Proloy (2013) Cast – Actor, Actress, Director, Producer, Music Director". Cinestaan. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- ^ "Hotness alert! Puja Banerjee sizzles in 'Bibaho Obhijaan' item song teaser". The Times of India. 26 April 2019.