Saif, Sonakshi taste the old-world charm of Kolkata

Kolkata has always been a source of inspiration for Bollywood. In the earlier days of the Hindi movie industry the directors, actors and technicians consisted of people mostly from Bengal. It was and is still believed that creativity is part and parcel of the Bengali culture that has enriched Bollywood. The Bengali or Kolkata connection to Bollywood is undeniable.
Great musicians like Kishore Kumar, Shalil Chowdhury, S D Burman and R D Burman had their roots in Kolkata. Director Hrishikesh Mukherjee was from Kolkata. Actresses like Sharmila Tagore, Jaya Bhaduri and Rakhi were also from Kolkata. Our very own Mithun Chakraborty is a proud Bengali. Also singers like Kumar Shanu, Shreya Ghosal and Shaan belong to Kolkata as well.
Recently the old city of Kolkata has gained popularity as the backdrop of Hindi movies. The trend started from the film ‘Parineeta’. The story of the film was based on Bengali writer Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s novel. The entire film was also shot in Kolkata. Incidentally it was the first film of Vidya Balan and Saif Ali Khan too acted in it. Later on eminent director Mani Ratnam directed the movie ‘Yuva’ on the backdrop of Kolkata and canned the essence of socio political conditions in Bengal. Recently the movie ‘Kahaani’ was entirely shot in Kolkata. It seems Kolkata is back in vogue.
Therefore it was heartening to see Sonakshi Sinha and Saif Ali Khan shooting in the city. They were shooting for the forthcoming film ‘Bullet Raja’, in the Dalhousie area. The movie is directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia. Sonakshi is playing the role of a Bengali girl and she was wearing bright red colored salwar kurta during the shoot. The onlookers were happy to see the beautiful Sonakshi riding a tram and later a hand drawn rickshaw. Both the transport are now almost mascots of the city and are its unique identifier.
Saif Ali Khan plays the role of a goon and hence his look was a bit rustic during the shooting and he wore a long kurta. Incidentally Kolkata is the maternal home for Sail Ali Khan as his mother Sharmila Tagore hails from here. It must have been good for the chote nawab to be back in the city. Last time he was at the city for a shot was during the filming of ‘Parineeta’.
The shooting of the film is also supposed to take place in different parts of Kolkata such as Kumartuli, Princep Ghat, Laha Bari and the famous flower market.