Bengali film on social networks headed for Osaka film fest

Kolkata: As social networking sites have become the talking point among the youth worldwide, films on the subject are but a natural spin-off like the Facebook tale `The Social Network` which has swept honours at the Golden Globe.

A Bengali movie, `Takhan Teish`, though not in the same tenor of `Social Network`, is hoping to do well at the prestigious Osaka Asian Film Festival next month. `Takhan Teish` (23 years old then), directed by young filmmaker Atanu Ghosh, is a film exploring the psyche of the net-savvy generation in the metros. The Osaka Asian Film Festival will be held from March 5 to 13. In addition to films (fiction, documentary, animation) made in Asia, the ones related to Asian people or Asian countries are also eligible for entry, even if the films are made outside the continent by non-Asian filmmakers. Pointing out that networking sites like Facebook are now helping people to bare their hearts, Atanu said, "The film`s character Sriparna meets men of different age groups after befriending them from the net and classifies them into four segments - good, bad, interesting and strange." "Being much into net myself, having chatted for hours with friends on networking sites, I have seen how the Gen X looks out for space as relationships are assuming new contours. Unlike 10 years back, people are now exploring new mediums in search of space and relationships," Ghosh explained. Atanu, however, pointed out that though the film has strong references to social networking sites, they are incidental as compared to the Hollywood movie `Social Network`. `Takhan Teish` revolves around fantasy, emotion and romanticism, telling the story in a non-linear form going back and fourth in time. The basic narrative structure is straight, he said. A large part of the film centres around the phase when Tamodeep was 23 and his world mostly revolves around female characters like Mohini and facebook buddy Sriparna. Atanu`s earlier feature film `Angshumaner Chhabi`, which had bagged the `Aravindan Puraskaram` for Best Debut Film and other awards was more of classical in film making style. "In Takhan Teish, I had tried a non-linear narrative while my third film, a love story, will again be different in treatment, certainly not another back-to-the-future in content," he said. He feels the Bengali audience are now getting more and more tuned to different genres of films, as proved by the box office response, and this is turning a new leaf for new age Bengali films. PTI