Shastri () is a 2024 Indian Bengali-language fantasy action comedy film directed by Pathikrit Basu. Produced by Soham Chakraborty, Nispal Singh and Bajrang Lal Churiwala under the banners of Surinder Films, Soham's Entertainment and Creative Solutions Pvt Ltd respectively, the film is based on Debarati Mukhopadhyay's short story Dolgobindo Babur Chashmah. It stars Mithun Chakraborty in the titular role, alongside an ensemble cast consisting of Soham Chakraborty, Debashree Roy, Rajatava Dutta, Anirban Chakraborty, Saswata Chatterjee, Kaushik Sen, Sauraseni Maitra and Ayush Das in pivotal roles. Delved into the theme of astrology versus science, the film plots Parimal, a factory worker, gets the power to see the future, changing his life's trajectory after facing massive hardships due to the sudden loss of his job. The film marked the comeback of Debasree Roy in Bengali cinema after a long hiatus. The film was officially announced in October 2023, marking the twelfth collaboration between the pair Mithun Chakraborty and Debashree Roy. Principal photography commenced in February 2024, with filming taking place in Kolkata. The soundtrack and background score were composed by Indraadip Dasgupta, with the lyrics penned by Srijato. The screenplay of the film was written by Aritra Banerjee, while the dialogues were by Arnab Bhaumik, with cinematography handled by Gopi Bhagat and editing by MD. Kalam. Shastri It was released theatrically on 8 October 2024 to positive reviews from critics, on the auspicious occasion of Durga Puja.
Cast
Production
Development During the promotion of Kachher Manush (2022), in an interview it was revealed by Pathikrit Basu that he was eager to direct Mithun Chakraborty in a film for a long time. He had previously mentioned his admiration of Chakraborty's work, noting the actor's films Mrigayaa (1976) and Tahader Katha (1992). During the post-production of Basu's next Dabaru (2024), Soham Chakraborty's production house Soham's Entertainment signed him to direct a film for the studio. Then both Soham and Basu chose a short story named Dolgobindo Babur Chashmah written by Debarati Mukhopadhyay, which itself was a part of Mukhopadhyay's book Nirbachito 42. Both of them narrated the script to Mithun Chakraborty in July 2023. After making some changes in the script as per his instructions, Chakraborty agreed to sign the film. The film's official announcement poster was released on 16 October 2023, having Mithun Chakraborty's voice reciting some lines from Rabindranath Tagore's devotional poem Bhakti Bhajan, in which the film's title was revealed to be Shastri.
Pre-production Surinder Films and Creative Solution Pvt Ltd were revealed to be the co-producers of the film in November 2023. Both Soham Chakraborty and Pathikrit Basu chose Indraadip Dasgupta as the music director of the film. Cinematographer Gopi Bhagat was included as a part of the crew members. Pathikrit Basu retained some of the crew members from his previous films, which included screenwriter Aritra Banerjee (who runs a YouTube channel named Aritra's Gyan), and editor MD Kalam both of whom worked with him in Dabaru, and dialogue writer Arnab Bhaumik, who worked with him in Kachher Manush. Both Banerjee and Bhaumik felt that one of the main challenges was spending a month to come up with the idea for the interval and climax sequence in a specific manner, where Mithun Chakraborty would be portrayed as a cool demeanor and also would have been observed to perform a high-octane action sequence respectively; and also setting the character to be more interesting, a contrast from Chakraborty's films. They added that Chakraborty will be also felicitated in the film through some memorable dialogues delivered by himself from his previous blockbusters Guru (2003), MLA Fatakeshto (2006), Abhimanyu (2006), Tulkalam (2007) and Ami Subhash Bolchhi (2011). Prior to the commencement of the first schedule, the team constructed a set at the NT-1 Studio in Kolkata, where major portions were being planned to be predominantly shot there Test shoots for the film took place in late January 2024 at Chennai. Prominent make-up artist Somnath Kundu designed the looks and character sketches for Mithun Chakraborty.
Casting In October 2023, Debashree Roy was revealed to be the female lead opposite Mithun Chakraborty, reuniting with him after 16 years since Tiger (2007), despite working in Shukno Lanka later where they were not observed to be a pair. That October month, Rajatava Dutta was reported to be a major part of the film, marking his 9th film with Chakraborty after Le Halua Le (2012). Besides, Soham Chakraborty was also revealed to play the role of an astrophysicist in the film, promising that Pathikrit Basu would create a new kind of magic with the entire starcast. In January 2024, Sauraseni Maitra was reported to be a part of the film, pairing up with him. The same month, other cast members were revealed officially by the makers including Kaushik Sen (in his second collaboration with Basu after Dabaru), Anirban Chakraborty and Saswata Chatterjee in a pivotal roles; with Ambarish Bhattacharya, Kanchan Mallick and Abhijit Guha in a cameo appearances. Rumour was that Kharaj Mukherjee might be seen in a vital role opposite Chakraborty, but it proved wrong when he denied the information.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
