Why freedom fighter ‘Bagha Jatin’s story is so relevant for GenZ?

Star Jalsha is all set for the television premiere of biographical period action drama, ‘Bagha Jatin’ on Sunday, June 23, 2024 at 1 pm. The movie portrays the life and the captivating journey of legendary freedom fighter Jatindranath Mukherjee. The movie ‘Bagha Jatin’ features a total of 92 freedom fighters, shedding a light on their cumulative struggle for freedom.

The film has been produced by Dev Entertainment Ventures and directed by Arun Roy, and stars Deepak Adhikari (Dev) as the protagonist ‘Bagha Jatin’, debutant actress Sreeja Dutta as Indubala Banerjee, actress Sudipta Chakraborty as Binodbala, Rohaan Bhattacharjee as Chittapriya Ray Chaudhuri, Alexandra Taylor, Carl A Harte, and others. The film’s music has been composed by Nilayan Chatterjee. He has also written the lyrics for the film.

The movie was released in theatres last year during Durga Puja on October 19, 2023 in West Bengali, while the Hindi dubbed version was released on October 20, 2023. The film pays a tribute to the sacrifice and courage of those fighting for India’s independence, playing a pivotal role in giving India freedom from the British.

Adgully caught up with some of the cast members of ‘Bagha Jatin’, who shared some interesting and poignant tales about the experience of working in this biographical period action drama and what made them opt for this heroic film.

Delving into his experience of working in the film, actor Deepak Adhikari said, “‘Bagha Jatin’ was a difficult character because when our education and research was going on, as per sources he had more than 700 stitches at the time of the accident with the tiger. Except for our freedom struggle, there is not much documentation about those who struggled for our freedom, their families, or the work that they have done.”

He further said, “I’ve been associated with Star Jalsha from the very first day. In 2008, when they launched, I was their first brand ambassador. It is almost 16 years of my journey with Star Jalsha. I can say that ‘Bagha Jatin’ is a subject that will not happen again in Bengal, and with the respect that we get in the cinema, I have a belief somewhere that the television medium is very big.”

Elaborating on how she prepared for her role in ‘Bagha Jatin’, her experience and some of the memorable moments of working in that film, actress Sreeja Dutta shared, “I am an absolute newcomer and not a trained actor. I have been guided by the entire team, especially Dev Da, who helped me in every single scene. Period films have always excited me, and when I got this opportunity, I was very thrilled to pull off the new avatar. It’s a story that represents Bengal, and it was done on such a huge scale, that is what I’m so excited about.”

Speaking about how he prepared for his role in ‘Bagha Jatin’ and also about his upcoming projects, actor Rohaan Bhattacharjee said, “I have two upcoming projects – one Bengali movie and one Hindi movie. Regarding my experience with ‘Bagha Jatin’, I wanted to see Dev Da on the set, the way a superstar lives on the set, that is a big experience for anyone. I liked playing my character as I always wanted to do a big film like this and it was a great experience working with everyone. I want to do a period drama in the future as well.”

Discussing the impact they are expecting to make through the TV premiere of this film and how it resonates with the GenZ audience, director Arun Roy said, “If you don’t know the name of your ancestors, that is not a good thing. It is very important to know about our history. Today, we are living well, but 100 years ago, we were not living so well, our freedom fighters gave us this gift. If we don’t know the people who gave us this happiness, that is our fault. I want today’s generation to know about their past.”

Speaking about the challenges while filming this movie, he said, “While making any type of periodic film, there are certain challenges. In Bengal, it is more, because here budget constraints are there. It was kind of challenging to find out as many as 92 characters together in the 10-80 years age group and making them actors on screen.”