Film and theatre personality Bratya Basu is currently working on a film based on the story of the notorious gangster Shyamal Das aka Hubba Shyamal. The actor-turned-director received recognition for his last feature film, Dictionary (2021), which bagged the Gautama Buddha Award at the Nepal International Film Festival.
Speaking to The Times of India, an English daily, Basu said his upcoming film, Hubba, would be a mix of thriller and comedy, starring Bangladeshi actor Mosharraf Karim.
Hubba Shyamal, who was known as the Dawood Ibrahim of the Hooghly during the 1990s, had 30 cases registered against him for murders, kidnapping and dealing in arms and ammunitions. He was caught thrice but was eventually released on bail. In 2009, he contested the general elections as an independent candidate but eventually withdrew his nomination. In 2011, his corpse was found near Baidyabati.
“Through this film, I want to explore the changing dynamics of politics and the underworld in the age of globalization,” said Basu.
The filmmaker is attempting to depict the rise of the gangster in a crucial time when people had just started getting access to the internet. Shyamal reportedly used 70 phones at the same time.
Basu is now recovering from COVID-19 and has plans to start shooting for Riingo’s A River in Heaven and Soukarya Ghosal’s next project once he gets better. Also, he got reappointed as the Minister of School and Higher Education at Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet after the Trinamool Congress’ landslide victory at the Assembly Elections of 2021.