Srijit Mukherji announces web-series Padatik, a tribute to Mrinal Sen

Director Srijit Mukherji announced his upcoming web-series Padatik: The Foot Soldier on Mrinal Sen’s 99^th birth anniversary on Saturday 14 May.

The director took to Instagram to share a poster for the series with the message that it will be set in Sen’s era and based upon his life and work.

He wrote, “Was waiting since the lockdown to announce this labour of love but had to wait till the 100th year celebrations start. So here goes. Celebrating the centenary of the convention-challenging, game-changing doyen of world cinema.”

The poster features Mrinal Sen reclining on an empty street which has Madcap, Maverick and Maestro, three words that best describe the master, written on it.

However, apart from Mukherji, National award-winning filmmaker Kaushik Ganguly and Anjan Dutt, who made his acting debut in Sen’s Chaalchitra (1981), have also announced projects that seek to pay tribute to the filmmaker on his centenary next year.

On 14 May, Mrinal Sen’s son Kunal Sen wrote briefly about these upcoming projects on his Facebook wall.

Kunal Sen's post reads, 'Today my father would have been 99. As a filmmaker and a human being, he lived a very full life. As we get closer to his centenary, he is getting the best appreciation that a filmmaker can hope to receive. There are three films that are under production, celebrating his life and his work.

'Kaushik Ganguly is making a feature film, Palan, where he is taking the characters of Kharij and placing them 40 years ahead in current times. Many of the actors who were in Kharij are playing the same roles, but 40 years older.

'Srijit Mukherji is directing a fictionalized biography as a multipart Web series. He is calling it Padatik (The Foot Soldier).

'Anjan Dutt is making a very personal feature film based on the interaction between the two of them as he started working with my father during the making of Chalchitra.

'We are all eagerly waiting to watch the finished films.'

While Mukherji is yet to divulge details about the cast and crew of the series, Ganguly’s film Palan will have Anjan Dutt, Mamata Shankar and Sreela Majumdar reprising their roles from Kharij (1982). The film will also feature Jisshu Sengupta, Paoli Dam and Debapratim Dasgupta in crucial roles.