Upcoming Uribaba anthology series Jhalagan Palagan to be based on Bengal's poetic duelling tradition

The team behind Pradipta Bhattacharya’s recent web-series Birohi (2021) has come together again for the upcoming Uribaba anthology series Jhalagan Palagan, which is based on a traditional Bengali form of poetic expression.

The five-part series has been directed by Arunava Mitra and Nilay Samiran Nandi.

Based on the format of Kobir Lorai, a duel of verses by two groups, the show will feature Sayan Ghosh, Amit Saha, Biswabasu Biswas, Satakshi Nandy, Sreya Bhattacharyya, Srabanti Bhattacharya and Rupayan Mandal.

Jhalagan Palagan has been produced by Bhattacharya and Ritwick Chakraborty's production house 180 Degree.

Shot in the heart of Tehatta, the series is a costume drama and will retain the adda spirit by tackling issues that have been the subject of debate among Bengalis for years. For instance, an episode based on the eternal rivalry between the iconic West Bengal football clubs Sporting Club East Bengal and Mohun Bagan will see the cast wearing the clubs' jerseys while the one on Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterjee will see the performers don the costumes of the legendary actors' silver screen personas.

"For a while, I had been thinking about creating a show based on the various arguments that Bengali people love to indulge in such as Uttam-Soumitra, East Bengal-Mohun Bagan and city or village,” said Bhattacharya.

The filmmaker added, “It struck me that we should do it in the format of the Palagaan that is still enacted in villages of Bengal.  Actor Ritwik Chakraborty and I have come up with a production house called 180 Degree. Based on the concept, the production team started their work. Dipanshu [Acharya] composed the songs while Satyaki [Banerjee] scored the music. Arunava and Nilay directed this show and Joydeep [Dey] shot it aesthetically. I felt this was the right time to experiment and bring Jhalagaan Palagaan to a web platform.”

Sourav Chakraborty, founder and director of Uribaba, said Jhalagan Palagan is a form of content that has not been presented before in the sphere of Bengali entertainment. Stating that Bhattacharya is a powerful content creator, who has always presented something unique to the audience, he said, “Be it Birohi, which is this year's most talked-about content, or his films, he never ceases to amaze us."

Jhalagan Palagan will be streamed on Uribaba from 9 January.