Golondaaj first look: Dev Adhikari presented in 19th centry period garb

The first still of Dhrubo Banerjee’s upcoming film Golondaaj features Dev Adhikari in typical 19th centry period garb. In it, Adhikari will be essaying the character of Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari, known as the father of Indian football. Sarbadhikari introduced football in 1877 at the Hare School compound, of then Calcutta as a teenager.

Golondaaj will also feature Anirban Bhattacharya, Indrasish Roy and Ishaa Saha in important roles. According to a report in Anandabazar Patrika, a Bengali daily, the most challenging task for the director was to capture the essence of the 19th century Kolkata, through Adhikari's look.

“I have a photo of the young Sarbadhikari with me. We have tried our best to replicate that look," Banerjee told Anandabazar Patrika.

Adhikari himself is from a zamindar family and he has tried his best to adapt himself to the physical appearance of Sarbadhikari through workshops. In the first still of his character, his period look with a moustache and a shawl on his shoulder is a proof of his efforts.

Also, not having been a football player, the actor-turned-producer had to regularly practise the game and go into a routine workout. “Practise sessions would start from 8 am in the morning and continue till the afternoon. I had to build a lean physic because my six-pack avatar would not go with the film. Also, Nagendra Prasad was a wrestler and hence, I had to learn that too, along with playing football in barefoot, which is quite a difficult task," Adhikari commented.

Banerjee has done a lot of research for the film and for that, his team would often visit the National Library. He also informed that he had Adhikari in mind from the inception of the film and also thought of casting Srikanta Acharya as his father because of the resemblance in their appearance.

The team started shooting for the film today. Golondaaj will be mostly shot in Kolkata and its suburban areas.