KOLKATA: Desire, the forbidden six-letter word, has come out of the closet and is no longer a taboo in the otherwise sanitized world of Bengali biopics. Instead of remaining as hagiographies, Tollywood directors have now started taking a look at the private and sometimes adult lives of icons.
Last year, Arun Roy released ‘Hiralal’ — a film on the director of India’s first advertising film and political documentary. It directly mentioned that something was brewing between the much-married director and his muse — stage actress Kusum Kumari. Soumitra Chatterjee’s biopic ‘Abhijaan’ had touched upon the subject of women in his life. ‘Jhorapalok’ — a film on Jibanananda Das — has explored the celebrated author’s physical desires for his cousin and also highlighted the sexual descriptions in his writings.
