Continuing with the mid-year checkpoint discussion, here is taking a pause to look at the Bangla films of 2019. Personally, I think it has been a pretty good year for Bangla Films in 2019 so far and has been a big turnaround since last couple of years. There have been quite a few good films that made their mark, and the good thing was that we got to see a lot of promising new talent coming up with the best of the year. There were also films in relevant and refreshing themes, modern in treatment with a lot of soul. We still had some biggies that were disappointing, but then which year won’t have that in the mix.

The next part of the year has a lot of interesting films lined up, and by the time 2019 year draws a close, we are likely to have significant additions to this list, which can only be good news. So here is a high-level listing what stood out for the year so far, based on the films I watched (I do an auto-filter to pick up films for watching).

BEST FILMS

1. Nagarkirtan
2. Tarikh
3. Jyeshtho Putro
4. Kia and Cosmos
5. Bijoya

Honorable Mentions: Shahjahan Regency, Mahalaya

Disappointments: Vinci Da, Mukherjee Dar Bou, Basu Paribaar, Durgeshgarh-er Guptodhan

 

BEST DIRECTORS

1. Kaushik Ganguly – NagarKirtan, Jyeshtho Putro, Bijoya
2. Churni Ganguly – Tarikh
3. Sudipto Roy – Kia and Cosmos

Honorable Mentions: Srijit Mukherji (Shahjahan Regency), Soumik Sen (Mahalaya)

Disappointments: Pritha Chakraborty (Mukherjee Dar Bou), Srijit Mukherji (Vinci Da), Anjan Dutt (Finally Bhalobasha)

 

BEST ACTORS

1. Ritwick Chakraborty – NagarKirtan, Jyeshtho Putro, Tarikh, Vinci Da
2. Kaushik Ganguly – Bijoya
3. Riddhi Sen – NagarKirtan
4. Subhashish Mukhopadhyay – Mahalaya, Basu Paribaar
5. Parambrata Chattopadhyay – Shahjahan Regency

Honorable Mentions: Prosenjit Chattopadhyay (Jyeshtho Putro), Shaswata Chattopadhyay (Tarikh, Basu Paribaar), Jisshu Sengupta (Mahalaya), Abir Chatterjee (Shahjahan Regency, Bijoya)

Disappointments: Anirban Bhattacharya (Finally Bhalobasha, Vinci Da), Soumitro Chattopadhyay (Basu Paribaar), Jisshu Sengupta (Basu Paribaar), Anjan Dutt (Shahjahan Regency), Rudranil Ghosh (Vinci Da, Shahjahan Regency)

 

BEST ACTRESSES

1. Ritwika Pal – Kia and Cosmos
2. Swastika Mukherjee – Shahjahan Regency, Kia and Cosmos
3. Jaya Ahsan – Bijoya
4. Sudipta Chakraborty – Jyeshtho Putro, Basu Paribaar
5. Raima Sen – Tarikh

Honorable Mentions: Aparna Sen (Basu Paribaar), Konineeca Banerjee (Mukherjee Dar Bou), Rituparna Sengupta (Shahjahan Regency, Mukherjee Dar Bou), Gargi Roy Choudhury (Jyeshtho Putro), Bidipta Chakraborty (Nagarkirtan)

Disappointments: Anusuya Majumdar (Mukherjee Dar Bou), Rituparna Sengupta (Basu Paribaar), Sohini Sarkar (Vinci Da)

 

BEST MUSIC ALBUM

1. Shahjahan Regency
2. Finally Bhalobasha
3. Bijoya

Honorable Mentions: Tarikh, Mukherjee Dar Bou, Kanttho

Best Background scores: Nagarkirtan, Kia and Cosmos, Shahjahan Regency, Jyeshthoputro, Basu Paribaar

Disappointments: Vinci Da, Shankar Mudi

 

BEST SONGS

1. Kichhu chaini aami – Shahjahan Regency
2. Tomar pasher desh – Bijoya
3. Ki kore haye – Kia and Cosmos
4. Bolo na Radhika – Shahjahan Regency
5. Shobai chup – Konttho
6. E kul bhange – Bijoya
7. Sagar kuler naiyya – Tarikh
8. Chhile bandhu – Finally Bhalobasha
9. Bandhu maane – Tarikh
10. O jiban tomar saathe – Mukherjee Dar Bou
11. Kato kato mon – Finally Bhalobasha
12. Bhromor – Basu Paribaar

Honorable Mentions: Brilliant use of Tagore Songs across films – Jakhon porbe na (Shahjahan Regency), Amar Praner Pore (Jyeshtho Putro) , Khachar Pakhi (Mukherjee Dar Bou) stand out.

That was the mid-year round up for Bangla films. Next we will look into the Indian Web Series space. Till then happy watching good cinema!