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Unlike the halcyon era of Bengali cinema, which had been responsible for empowering and pushing the boundaries of cinema in the Indian sphere, the current regional outputs have been largely unremarkable, primarily because of the industry’s proclivity to iterate what works rather than innovate. As a result, both the audience and the capital for it decreased significantly in the last decade. Having said that, there are still gems being released from the industry, as well as big swings, both in terms of artistic and commercial endeavors, within the contours of limited budgets. The Bengali movies listed below impressed me in 2024, primarily due to their overarching quality and the variation in story and storytelling, which amounts to a major swing from the norm.

5. Beline

“Beline,” by Samik Roy Choudhury, is ample proof of how smart direction and extraordinary performances can elevate standard pulp genre fare. The story of an octogenarian...

Mumbai, July 19 (Ians) Actor Saswata Chatterjee will be seen playing a quirky cop in the upcoming Bengali series ‘Abar Proloy’. The series, which also stars Saswata Chatterjee, Gaurav Chakrabarty, Paran Bandopadhyay, Ritwick Chakraborty, Koushani Mukherjee and June Maliah in pivotal roles, has been directed by Raj Chakraborty. The trailer of the series was unveiled on Wednesday.

Spanning 10 episodes, this massy Bengali cop drama revives the beloved character of Animesh Dutta (played by Saswata Chatterjee), a special crime branch officer who is sent to Sunderbans to hunt down the deadly mastermind who is invisible for years and is running a wide-spread human trafficking racket. Animesh plunks into a cobweb of crimes to fulfil his mission, starting off by saving a minor Dugga, from the clutches of ‘Hujjas’, a gang of young hooligans ruling the island.

Talking about his character, Saswata Chatterjee said, “Animesh Dutta is a character that is very close to me.

The New York Indian Film Festival (Nyiff) announced the full lineup last night for their 14th year of celebrating independent, art house, alternate, and Diaspora films from/about/connected to the Indian subcontinent (May 5 – 10) at the SoHo Tiffin Junction. Dedicated to bringing these films to a New York audience, the festival will feature 34 screenings (23 narrative, 11 documentary) –all seen for the first time in New York City.

The festival highlights various cinemas of India’s different regions – Marathi, Bengali and two films from the Northeast. In addition the festival covers cinemas from the neighboring South Asian countries – four films by Pakistani filmmakers, two from Sri Lanka – a feature and a documentary, and one from Nepal.

The festival’s Marathi films include Postcard and multiple-award winning films Astu and Fandry. Directed by Nagraj Manjule, Fandry received rave reviews in India, winning the grand jury prize at the Mumbai Film Festival in October...

The New York Indian Film Festival (Nyiff) announced the Opening Night Gala film: Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly, a sensational tale of corruption, indifference, and systemic violence that begins when a 10-year-old daughter of an aspiring actor disappears.

The festival is widely recognized as the oldest, most prestigious Indian film festival in the United States, showcasing some of the greatest talents working in the diaspora. Celebrating its 14th year, Nyiff will run May 5 to 10 at a variety of prestigious New York City venues, including the Skirball Center for Performing Arts, where the opening and closing films are set to take place. The full line-up of screenings and events will be announced on April 8th, 2014.

Director Anurag Kashyap returns to Nyiff after closing the 2012 festival with his highly received film, Gangs Of Wasseypur, a two-part five-hour long drama that Hollywood Reporter declares “puts Tarantino in a corner with its cool command of cinematically-inspired and referenced violence,...