Jhhar Themey Jabe Akdin, conceptualised by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and directed by Arindam Sil, released on 14 April on YouTube. The objective behind making the film is to raise funds for daily-wage earners and technicians of the Bengali film industry.
Featuring Prosenjit Chatterjee, Rituparna Sengupta, Nusrat Jahan, Paran Bandopadhyay, Abir Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Rukmini Maitra, Koel Mallick, Subhasree Ganguly and Mimi Chakraborty, the film also attempts to propagate the idea that the Bengal government is doing great work in conducting the lockdown to fight against COVID-19.
With the lockdown in progress, each clip of the actors has been shot individually from their respective homes in order to ensure physical distancing. Family, a short film by Sony Entertainment Television, has been made on a similar format. It features some of the big names of Indian cinema and engages the viewers with funny conversations revolving around a pair of lost sunglasses.
Jhhar Themey Jabe Akdin is about a girl (Rukmini Maitra) in Kolkata, who receives an emergency call from her ailing father (Paran Bandopadhyay) from Bankura. She needs to reach him as soon as possible but the city is under lockdown.
It is a sentimental story, in which every character seems desperate to prove that they are following all the preventive measures against COVID-19. The film eventually depicts how all the characters help the girl reach Bankura, without violating the physical distancing norm.
It also conveys the underlying message about how the government is taking care of the people and providing medicines and essentials to all.
Watch the short film.