Lights, camera, presenter: The new stars of Tollywood
Times of India | 12 July 2024
Kolkata: Tollywood has been increasingly embracing the trend of renowned directors and celebrated actors, presenting films of their contemporaries. The latest to join this bandwagon is Anirban Bhattacharya, who is presenting Abhinandan Banerjee’s KIFF-awarded film, ‘Manikbabur Megh’, starring Chandan Sen.
This trend was perhaps started in Tollywood by filmmaker Srijit Mukherji, who presented Pradipta Bhattacharyya’s ‘Bakita Byaktigato’ in 2013, followed by director Suman Ghosh, presenting Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s Venice-awarded ‘Asha Jaor Majhe’ in 2014.In 2022, Prosenjit Chatterjee endorsed Prasun Chatterjee’s ‘Dostojee’. This burgeoning trend of established personalities showing support raises the pertinent question: Is it purely an altruistic effort or a strategic brand-building exercise by so-called commercial stars and directors to align themselves with good cinema?
The fundamental distinction between brand ambassadors and film presenters in Bengal lies in the absence of financial transactions for the latter. Beyond the affinity for the film, the presenter’s interpersonal relationships with its director/producer or the latter’s influence in the industry contributes to determining which movie secures a presenter. Bauddhayan Mukherji had enlisted Imtiaz Ali for his ‘Teenkahon’ in 2015 “to garner more attention”. “Imtiaz adored the film. It helped our approach to him,” Mukherji said.
“Suman Ghosh championed ‘Asha Jaoar Majhe’ as he wanted to help us reach it to people. He gave money for marketing and bear release costs. That helped us,” director Aditya Vikram said. Mutual respect turned into camaraderie and Aditya Vikram edited Suman’s forthcoming ‘Puraton’.
Prasun said ‘Dostojee’ secured a huge reach because of Prosenjit’s benevolence. “My film’s festival run created a brand value in a niche circuit. His involvement helped take it to the wider market in 2022,” the director said.
But Pradipta said the producer had secured Srijit for ‘Bakita Byaktigato’. “We were reluctant to have someone present it without any organic connection. I don’t believe having a presenter benefited BB,” Pradipta said, but he is not opposed to a presenter if they are involved from the film’s conception. “The involvement can also come later, such as assisting with distribution, submitting it to festivals, or pitching it to OTT platforms. If a Bengali film can secure a presenter like Martin Scorsese or Bela Tarr, it will undoubtedly boost a film’s prospects. On the contrary, if a film is truly exceptional, it is the presenter’s brand image that will reap the benefits,” Pradipta said.