Srijit Mukherji shares obscure trivia about Baishe Srabon on thriller's 10th anniversary

Srijit Mukherji’s Baishe Srabon, one of the best thrillers to have come out of Bengali cinema in recent times, completed 10 years today. The director took to Twitter to share some lesser-known facts about the only film that he shot on celluloid and which was also the first in a series of collaborations.

According to the director, the Prosenjit Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee and Goutam Ghose-starrer was the first film to have been shot in the courtyard of the towering 19th-century Basubati mansion, the palatial home of Nandalal Bose, a pioneer of modern Indian art. Actress Raima Sen and Abir Chatterjee also played crucial roles in the film.

Mukherji also revealed that Baishe Srabon was initially conceived as a telefilm for Star and was supposed to be directed by Parambrata Chatterjee, featuring the late legend Soumitra Chatterjee as the foul-mouthed and independent-minded police officer Prabir Roy Chowdhury, a character whom Prosenjit later made memorable with his gripping performance. Interestingly, it is also Prosenjit’s 59^th birthday today.

The character of Abhijit Pakrashi, played by Parambrata, who hunts for the serial killer in the thriller, was to be essayed by Kaushik Sen. Parambrata reprised the role for the sequel Dwitiyo Purush, which was released in 2020.

Mukherji further wrote, "The climax was shot with one-third of the crew. Anjan Dutt was supposed to play Nibaron Chakraborty and Srikanto Acharya was supposed to sing the hit song from the film 'Gobhire Jao'." In the film, the character of Nibaron Chakraborty, an eccentric poet, who believes himself to be part of the Hungry Generation, a 1960s Bengali literary movement, was ably essayed by Ghose.

The song was eventually made immensely popular by singer, composer and lyricist Anupam Roy, who got his first break with Mukherji’s Autograph (2010). “Anupam Roy used to complete the recordings by travelling over the weekend from Bangalore,” tweeted the director.

The film also saw the “first use of an improvised body rig using a twisted clothes hanger”, according to Mukherji.

Baishe Srabon also marked Mukherji’s first collaboration with esraj player Subhayu Sen Majumdar.