After ‘Bhagyyolokkhi’, Solanki to reunite with Ritwick in ‘Ranna Bati’

After ‘Bhagyyolokkhi’, actress Solanki Roy is set to reunite with Ritwick Chakraborty in director Pratim D Gupta’s upcoming Bengali film, ‘Ranna Baati’. The film, where food plays a central role in the narrative, goes on floors in Kolkata from mid-February. Gupta, impressed by Solanki’s natural screen presence in Mainak Bhaumik’s recently released thriller ‘Bhagyyolokkhi’, felt she was the perfect choice to play Ritwick’s wife in ‘Ranna Baati’. “I found Solanki very natural on screen and she shared good chemistry with Ritwick in Bhagyyolokkhi,” said Gupta, who is collaborating with Ritwick once again after ‘Maacher Jhol’ (2017), another food-centric film.

Joining the cast in ‘Ranna Baati’ are Sohini Sarkar and Anirban Chakrabarti. The first looks of the actors are already out. Anirban, fresh off the success of his role as Naseer in Gupta’s thriller ‘Chaalchitro’, will play Ritwick’s friend, while Sohini takes on the role of a cooking coach. The film revolves around a father-daughter relationship, with food at the heart of their bond. Ritwick plays the father and Solanki plays his wife in the film.

Gupta made a strong comeback to Bengali cinema with ‘Chaalchitro’ after a four-year gap. In between, his ‘Netflix’ series ‘Tooth Pari: When Love Bites’ was a unique addition to his filmography, bringing a fresh twist to the vampire genre. Despite releasing in a packed December alongside big commercial films like ‘Khadaan’ and ‘Shontaan’, ‘Chaalchitro’ found its own audience, thanks to its gripping storyline of serial killers, revenge and past trauma. With ‘Chaalchitro’ set to stream on ‘Hoichoi’ by the end of February, we asked Gupta if a different release window might have given the film a better box-office run. But the ‘Paanch Adhyay’ director disagreed. “Bengali audiences mostly prefer watching films during holidays and festivals. That’s the best time to release,” he said.

The success of ‘Chaalchitro’ has Gupta excited for its next installment. More than just a sequel, he described it as both a prequel and a sequel of the story. Familiar faces of ‘Chaalchitro’ like Tota Roy Chowdhury, Anirban, Bratya Basu and Shantanu Maheshwari will return, along with Bangladeshi actor Ziaul Faruq Apurba. If all goes as planned, the team will start shooting in May and the film might have a December release - just like the first film.