The intense visuals of a militant uprising and the stark depiction of corrupt power politics in the trailer for Mandip Saha’s upcoming film Iskabon (2021) make it evident that the first-time director has put in a lot of effort to achieve authentic portrayal of the Maoist uprising that shook West Bengal over 50 years ago.
Starring Sourav Das, Anamika Chakraborty, Saanju, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Kharaj Mukherjee, Iskabon promises a tale of war and love at the heart of a movement that rocked the country's political scenario and made several locations in the interiors of Bengal inaccessible for years.
Naren (Bhattacharjee), a local party leader of Golbibi Bajar in the Jangamahal area, claims to fight for the rights of the native people and thrusts the responsibility of leading the revolt on Satya (Das), who is well-acquainted with the remote area. As the rebels have several confrontations with government forces, a political leader in power can be seen losing his wits at senior police officers for their failure to put the revolt down.
Hence, Colonel Shib Mukherjee, an army officer, is put in charge to tackle the situation. Regarded one of the best counter-insurgency officers, the colonel is a patriot who believes there are more enemies inside the country than outside. However, in the war zone, a twist takes place when he loses his heart to Golapi (Chakraborty), a member of Naren’s group.
When Golapi reciprocates the colonel's feelings, Satya loses his mind as, the visuals suggest, he too has a soft corner for her. The situation goes out of hand when Satya’s fight becomes personal and he goes to the extent of contemplating abducting the army officer and killing Golapi as a traitor.
On the other, the political leader, threatened by Naren’s growing strength. employs Kharaj Mukherjee’s character to capture him. Whether Satya’s personal agenda hampers the primary objective of Naren and his party will be revealed in the film.
The release date of the film has not been announced. Watch the trailer below and let us know if you are keen to watch Iskabon.