The Kolkatan Tollywood film industry dates back to the 1890s.A long history has been traversed since then, with stalwarts such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak and others having earned international acclaim and securing their place in the movie history.The film industry has produced classics such as Nagarik, The Apu Trilogy, Jalsaghar, Ajantrik, Neel Akasher Neechey, Devdas, Devi, Meghe Dhaka Tara, The Calcutta Trilogies, etc. The inputs on the commercial front was largely contributed by The Eternal Pair Uttam Kumar-Suchitra Sen in the early 1950s. Another notable actor Soumitra Chatterjee, having acted in several Satyajit Ray films, and considered as a rival to Uttam Kumar in the 1960s. Atol Joler Ahoban, Deep Jele Jai, Ekhane Pinjor are some classics in the Uttam Kumar era. At that era, the famous playback singers in Bengali film music were Hemanta Mukherjee, Manna Dey, Sandhya Mukhopadhyay and Kishore Kumar.
In the 1980s, however, the Bengal film industry went through a period of turmoil, with a shift from its traditional artistic and emotional inclinations to an approach more imitating the increasingly more popular Hindi films, along with a decline in the audience and critical appreciation, with notable exceptions of the works of directors like Gautam Ghose. However, even at this time, a number of actors and actresses enjoyed popularity, including Tapas Paul, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Chiranjit, Rituparna Sengupta, Rachana Banerjee and others. However, toward the end of the 90s, with the a number of directors coming increasingly into prominence, including Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Rituparno Ghosh, Gautam Ghose, Aparna Sen, Sandip Ray among others, a number of popular and critically acclaimed movies have come out of the Bengali film industry in recent years. These include, Unishe April, Titli, Dahan, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, Bombaiyer Bombete, etc. and signal a resurgence of the Bengali film industry.
Now after 2000 there has been a great rise in the industry with flourishing new talents taking the center-stage both at commercial and art fileds. A group of actors like Jeet Madnani, Dev Adhikari, Hiran Chatterjee, Soham Chakraborty, Ankush Hazra, Joy Mukherjee, Rahul Banerjee, etc. besides actresses like Koyel Mallick, Srabanti Biswas, Payel Sarkar, Subhashree Ganguly, Nusrat Jahan, Sayantika Banerjee, Priyanka Sarkar , etc. curved success on the commercial front whereas the set of actors like Indraneil Sengupta, Jishu Sengupta, Abir Chatterjee, Sayan Munshi, Priyanshu Chatterjee, etc. besides actresses like Raima Sen, Paoli Dam, Swastika Mukherjee, Parno Mittra, Ananya Chatterjee, etc. smiled their glory in the art house cinema. Off beat directors likes Shekhar Das, Aniruddha Roychodhury, Atanu Ghosh, Srijit Mukherjee, Avik Mukhopadhyay, Subrata Sen, Bappadityo Bandhopadyay, etc. co-existed with commercial flick directors like Raj Chakroborty, Rajib Biswas, Ringo Banerjee, Sujit Mondal, Raja Chandra, Soumik Chattopadhyay, Sankariya, etc. This era also witnessed some great musicians on the block like Jeet Ganguly, Indradeep Dasgupta, Samidh-Rishi, etc. on the mainstream scenario and their art house counterparts were Shantanu Moitra, Debojyoti Mishra, Neel Adhikari, etc. Some of the film like Mahulbanir Sereng, Kalbela, Bong Connection, Bow Barracks Forever, Madly Bangali, Kalpurush, Antaheen, Sob Choritro Kalpanik, Ekti Tarar Khoje, Janala, Abohoman, Gorosthane Sabdhan, Bomkesh Bakshi, Autograph, Japanese Wife, Moner Manush, Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona, Noukadubi, Iti Mrinalini, Royal Bengal Rahasya, etc. did extremely well in the non commercial base. This era also took a marked leap in films at commercial level with films like Subhodrishti, Premer Kahani, Bhalobasha Bhalobasha, Chirodini Tumi Je Amar, Mon Maane Na, Love, Jackpot, Challenge, Saat Pake Bandha, Poran Jay Joliya Rey, Neel Akasher Chandni, Prem Amar, Bor Ashbe Akhoni, Bolona Tumi Amar, Wanted, Amanush, Ley Chakka, Target, Josh, Dui Prithibi, Mon Je Kore Uru Uru, Kellafateh, Shedin Dakha Hoyechilo, Fighter, Paglu, Shatru, Phande Poriya Boga Kandhe Re, Ley Halua Ley, Khokababu, Romeo, Idiot, Bastab, Paglu 2, etc. doing great at the box offices equally over urban and rural sectors. These films cannot be restricted to rural platform but have succeeded to curve an urban niche with their scripting and in totality. This is due to the massive multiplex releases of all the good Bong movies motivating the urban audiences besides their rural counterparts. Bengali mainstream films have even now flown to beautiful locations of Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Bangkok, Pattaya, Carribean Islands, Austria, Dubai, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Italy, Switzerland, Istanbul, etc. which in a way raised the overall standards of the generation next cinema.
Scriptwriters like Salil Naskar are contributing on a larger and global level which again in turn creating a better buzz for the survival of the films' fate. Noted singers like Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan, Kunal Ganjawala, Shaan, Zubeen Garg, Mohit Chauhan, Javed Ali, Mika Singh, Timir, etc. leading the male bandwagon along with female counterparts like Alka Yagnik, June Banerjee, Shreya Ghosal, Monali Thakur, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Gayatri Iyer, Akriti Kakkar, Kalpana Patowary, Aditi, etc. This is not the limit we can also find stalwarts like Skinney Allley-ian Amyt Dutta, Hip Pocket-ian Nondon Bagchi and HFT-ian Lew Hilt alongside aces like Anjan Dutta and Kabir Suman contributing to the music of the recent films like that of in Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona. Also it can be learned that Bangla Band biggies like Surojit Chatterjee, Anindyo Chatterjee, Siddhartha Ray, Rupam Islam, Subhajit Mukherjee, Anindyo Bose, etc. also turning to playback these days and thus taking films' music to another greater heights. Another help that eventually counter-progressed the popularity of Tollywood Industry getting globalised is the enormous contribution of the production houses like that of Shree Venkatesh Films, Surinder Films, Eskay Movies, Prince Entertainment, Rose Valley Productions, Srijan Arts, etc. These profit-making business houses are far more focussed and smart at marketting and packeging in the perfect order with right timing. The films' budgetting have also accelerated in the recent times that also helped in ample qualitative growth. Thus, the cine lovers can happily enjoy this happening new modern era of Tollywood and keep on getting the right fodder from the industry. :)
In the 1980s, however, the Bengal film industry went through a period of turmoil, with a shift from its traditional artistic and emotional inclinations to an approach more imitating the increasingly more popular Hindi films, along with a decline in the audience and critical appreciation, with notable exceptions of the works of directors like Gautam Ghose. However, even at this time, a number of actors and actresses enjoyed popularity, including Tapas Paul, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Chiranjit, Rituparna Sengupta, Rachana Banerjee and others. However, toward the end of the 90s, with the a number of directors coming increasingly into prominence, including Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Rituparno Ghosh, Gautam Ghose, Aparna Sen, Sandip Ray among others, a number of popular and critically acclaimed movies have come out of the Bengali film industry in recent years. These include, Unishe April, Titli, Dahan, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, Bombaiyer Bombete, etc. and signal a resurgence of the Bengali film industry.
Now after 2000 there has been a great rise in the industry with flourishing new talents taking the center-stage both at commercial and art fileds. A group of actors like Jeet Madnani, Dev Adhikari, Hiran Chatterjee, Soham Chakraborty, Ankush Hazra, Joy Mukherjee, Rahul Banerjee, etc. besides actresses like Koyel Mallick, Srabanti Biswas, Payel Sarkar, Subhashree Ganguly, Nusrat Jahan, Sayantika Banerjee, Priyanka Sarkar , etc. curved success on the commercial front whereas the set of actors like Indraneil Sengupta, Jishu Sengupta, Abir Chatterjee, Sayan Munshi, Priyanshu Chatterjee, etc. besides actresses like Raima Sen, Paoli Dam, Swastika Mukherjee, Parno Mittra, Ananya Chatterjee, etc. smiled their glory in the art house cinema. Off beat directors likes Shekhar Das, Aniruddha Roychodhury, Atanu Ghosh, Srijit Mukherjee, Avik Mukhopadhyay, Subrata Sen, Bappadityo Bandhopadyay, etc. co-existed with commercial flick directors like Raj Chakroborty, Rajib Biswas, Ringo Banerjee, Sujit Mondal, Raja Chandra, Soumik Chattopadhyay, Sankariya, etc. This era also witnessed some great musicians on the block like Jeet Ganguly, Indradeep Dasgupta, Samidh-Rishi, etc. on the mainstream scenario and their art house counterparts were Shantanu Moitra, Debojyoti Mishra, Neel Adhikari, etc. Some of the film like Mahulbanir Sereng, Kalbela, Bong Connection, Bow Barracks Forever, Madly Bangali, Kalpurush, Antaheen, Sob Choritro Kalpanik, Ekti Tarar Khoje, Janala, Abohoman, Gorosthane Sabdhan, Bomkesh Bakshi, Autograph, Japanese Wife, Moner Manush, Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona, Noukadubi, Iti Mrinalini, Royal Bengal Rahasya, etc. did extremely well in the non commercial base. This era also took a marked leap in films at commercial level with films like Subhodrishti, Premer Kahani, Bhalobasha Bhalobasha, Chirodini Tumi Je Amar, Mon Maane Na, Love, Jackpot, Challenge, Saat Pake Bandha, Poran Jay Joliya Rey, Neel Akasher Chandni, Prem Amar, Bor Ashbe Akhoni, Bolona Tumi Amar, Wanted, Amanush, Ley Chakka, Target, Josh, Dui Prithibi, Mon Je Kore Uru Uru, Kellafateh, Shedin Dakha Hoyechilo, Fighter, Paglu, Shatru, Phande Poriya Boga Kandhe Re, Ley Halua Ley, Khokababu, Romeo, Idiot, Bastab, Paglu 2, etc. doing great at the box offices equally over urban and rural sectors. These films cannot be restricted to rural platform but have succeeded to curve an urban niche with their scripting and in totality. This is due to the massive multiplex releases of all the good Bong movies motivating the urban audiences besides their rural counterparts. Bengali mainstream films have even now flown to beautiful locations of Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Bangkok, Pattaya, Carribean Islands, Austria, Dubai, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Italy, Switzerland, Istanbul, etc. which in a way raised the overall standards of the generation next cinema.
Scriptwriters like Salil Naskar are contributing on a larger and global level which again in turn creating a better buzz for the survival of the films' fate. Noted singers like Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan, Kunal Ganjawala, Shaan, Zubeen Garg, Mohit Chauhan, Javed Ali, Mika Singh, Timir, etc. leading the male bandwagon along with female counterparts like Alka Yagnik, June Banerjee, Shreya Ghosal, Monali Thakur, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Gayatri Iyer, Akriti Kakkar, Kalpana Patowary, Aditi, etc. This is not the limit we can also find stalwarts like Skinney Allley-ian Amyt Dutta, Hip Pocket-ian Nondon Bagchi and HFT-ian Lew Hilt alongside aces like Anjan Dutta and Kabir Suman contributing to the music of the recent films like that of in Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona. Also it can be learned that Bangla Band biggies like Surojit Chatterjee, Anindyo Chatterjee, Siddhartha Ray, Rupam Islam, Subhajit Mukherjee, Anindyo Bose, etc. also turning to playback these days and thus taking films' music to another greater heights. Another help that eventually counter-progressed the popularity of Tollywood Industry getting globalised is the enormous contribution of the production houses like that of Shree Venkatesh Films, Surinder Films, Eskay Movies, Prince Entertainment, Rose Valley Productions, Srijan Arts, etc. These profit-making business houses are far more focussed and smart at marketting and packeging in the perfect order with right timing. The films' budgetting have also accelerated in the recent times that also helped in ample qualitative growth. Thus, the cine lovers can happily enjoy this happening new modern era of Tollywood and keep on getting the right fodder from the industry. :)
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| Jeet and Koyel at Italy on the sets of " Dui Prithibi " |
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| Dev and Subhashree at Lankawi Islands on the sets of "Poran Jay Joliya Rey" |
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| Soham and Srabanti at Maritius on the sets of " Amanush " |
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| Hiran and Koyel at Dubai on the sets of " Mon Je Kore Uru Uru" |
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| Ankush and Rupashree at Carribean Islands on the sets of " Kellafateh" |
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| Jishu and Malobika at Malaysia on the sets of "Kokhono Biday Bolona" |
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| Sujoy and Tanushree at Bangkok on the sets of "Bondhu Esho Tumi" |
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| Dev and Srabanti at Switzerland on the sets of "Shedin Dakha Hoyechilo" |
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| Dev and Payel at Sri Lanka on the sets of "Ley Chakka" |
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| Jeet and Nusrat at Istanbul on the sets of "Shatru" |
It was interesting to read about the evolution of Tollywood in recent years. Let's see if it can revive the glory of Satyajit - Rittwik era!
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