Rabindranath Tagore’s classic Kabuliwala will be filmed again in Bengali after 6 decades, with Mithun Chakraborty in the lead

Rabindranath Tagore’s timeless classic Kabulwalatelling the story of the fatherly love that a middle-aged Afghan has for a little girl from Kolkata, will again be adapted for cinema in Bengali after more than six decades, with Mithun Chakraborty in the lead role.

Tapan Sinha first put the story, written in 1892, into celluloid in 1957 retaining the original name, which also earned him cult status. Now, after 66 years, director Suman Ghosh (Aadhaar) is once again going to make a Bengali movie based on it.

“I will be playing the role of Rehamat, who was immortalized in Tagore’s writing and started taking notes, starting my mental preparations (for the character),” Mithun, 72, said.

The 1957 film had legendary Bengali actor Chhabi Biswas as the protagonist. But Mithun said he would take on the character in his own way.

“This Kabulwala will have no similarity (to the previous film),” Mithun told PTI on the sidelines of a recent event.

National award-winning actor Projapoti’s latest Bengali film is shooting to sold-out theaters even 100 days after its release.

“Projapoti collected Rs. 11 crores in 100 days across West Bengal,” Mithun said.

Srikant Mohta of production house SVF, who leads the new Kabulwala film will be shot in Calcutta and, if possible, in Afghanistan this year.

“We will like to keep the period element of the film. It will not be fully set in contemporary times. But it’s all in the director’s camp. , Mohta said.

It will be directed by Suman Ghosh, who previously worked with Mithun in his 2012 film Nobel Chor.

In Tagore’s story, Rahamat, a middle-aged man comes from Afghanistan to Kolkata to sell dried fruits door to door and lend money. He bonds with one of his boss’s five-year-old daughters, who reminds him of his own child he left at home.

The story has also inspired projects in Hindi.

In 1961, a film directed by Hemen Gupta was made, starring Balraj Sahani in the lead role. Another was Bioscopewala with Danny Dengzongpa. The 2018 film was directed by Deb Medhekar.

---