This is not the first time Kaushik Ganguly is working on issues of sexuality and gender in his cinematic works. In a 2003 telefilm Ushnatar Janye he showed us what lesbianism is, and soon after the historic 2009 judgment by the Delhi High Court decriminalizing homosexuality, he joined hands with late Rituparno Ghosh to make Arekti Premer Golpo (2010), appreciated as much for its bold theme as for attempting to tread on terrain only a few mainstream films have done. And now with ‘Nagarkirtan’, he sets the bar even higher, given the context of the afterlife of section 377. The film is finally seeing the daylight. The film that earned Best Actor for Riddhi Sen at the 2017 National Awards, had been struggling hard to find a theatrical release. But now with the release date set for February 15, people may ask why anyone should watch ‘Nagarkirtan’. We asked the same question to the trio – the captain of the ship Kaushik Ganguly and his two sellers Riddhi Sen and Ritwick Chakraborty. Here’s what they have to say.
This is not the first time Kaushik Ganguly is working on issues of sexuality and gender in his cinematic works. In a 2003 telefilm Ushnatar Janye he showed us what lesbianism is, and soon after the historic 2009 judgment by the Delhi High Court decriminalizing homosexuality, he joined hands with late Rituparno Ghosh to make Arekti Premer Golpo (2010), appreciated as much for its bold theme as for attempting to tread on terrain only a few mainstream films have done. And now with ‘Nagarkirtan’, he sets the bar even higher, given the context of the afterlife of section 377. The film is finally seeing the daylight. The film that earned Best Actor for Riddhi Sen at the 2017 National Awards, had been struggling hard to find a theatrical release. But now with the release date set for February 15, people may ask why anyone should watch ‘Nagarkirtan’. We asked the same question to the trio – the captain of the ship Kaushik Ganguly and his two sellers Riddhi Sen and Ritwick Chakraborty. Here’s what they have to say.