Srijit Mukherji’s ‘Maharaja Tomare Selam’ to reveal the untold story behind Satyajit Ray’s Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen

The film will focus on the people, production process, rehearsals, dialogues and challenges involved in making Ray’s celebrated film, rather than retelling its story.

Speaking about the project, Mukherji said the identities of the actors’ characters would be kept under wraps.

"Which actors are playing which character, should remain as a suspense. I think a film should always retain its suspense as long as it can and as cinema is like magic, it should hold its magic to the very end," he said.

Srijit Mukherjee. Photo: Avishek MItra/IBNS

Mukherji said the poster draws on the characters of Goopy Gayen and Bagha Bayen while also featuring people associated with the making of the film.

"The poster was imagined, of course based on the characters of Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen, and not only them but also the people who were connected to the film, behind-the-scenes are also presented. The struggles and the people who actually struggled during that time, I wanted to keep every one of them in the poster," he said.

The film's cast includes Jeetu Kamal, Rudranil Ghosh, Ritwik Bhowmik, Satakshi Nandy, Sairity Banerjee and Arijit Dutta. Their characters have not yet been officially revealed. Bhowmik and Ghosh are, however, presumed to be playing Goopy and Bagha respectively.

(L-R) Ritwik Bhowmik, Srijit Mukherji and Rudranil Ghosh. Photo: Avishek Mitra/IBNS

Actor-politician Rudranil Ghosh said he was proud to be part of the project but added that he did not know which character he would play.

"I would like to thank the entire team, for making a film which is based on our emotion through a name which is globally acclaimed, and making a film based on his work. And this courageous attempt can only be done by Srijit. I'm very proud to be a part of it, though I still don't know which character I'm playing," Ghosh said.

The original producer of Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen, Piyali Films Pvt. Ltd., is also associated with Maharaja Tomare Selam.

Bhowmik said he was grateful to have been chosen for the project.

"I'm really lucky and fortunate that the makers thought of me to be a part of this film. I hope through this film, all our dreams and emotions come true," he said.

Ritwik Bhowmik with Rudranil Ghosh. Photo: Avishek Mitra/IBNS

Maharaja Tomare Selam is expected to feature other characters and films from Ray's body of work. The shooting is scheduled to begin next year.

(Reporting by Aaheli Chakraborty, Photos by Avishek Mitra/IBNS)