Chengiz

''Chengiz'' (; also marketed as ''Chengiz: The One Who Has No Boundaries, No Limits,'' is a 2023 Indian Bengali-language period action-crime thriller film co-written and directed by Rajesh Ganguly. Based on a story written by Neeraj Pandey about Calcutta underworld'','' the film was produced by Jeet, Gopal Madnani, and Amit Jumrani under the banners of Grassroot Entertainment and Jeetz Filmworks. It stars Jeet in the titular role, as well as in dual role, alongside Susmita Chatterjee, Rohit Roy and Shataf Figar in another pivotal roles. The film shows the situation of Kolkata from mid 70s to late 90s following the journey of a child named Jaidev Singh who struggles with his life since his childhood and later becomes the dreaded drug lord named Chengiz in the Calcutta underworld.

The film was announced in March 2022, being the 55th film of Jeet as the leading actor. Principal photography commenced in April 2022 in Kolkata, with additional shoots in Morocco and Thailand, and concluded in November 2022. The film's music was composed by Aneek Dhar and Kaushik-Guddu, with cinematography and editing handled by Manas Ganguly and Malay Laha respectively. The action sequences of the film were designed by Stunt Silva, while the dance sequences were choreographed by Imran Sardhariya.

''Chengiz'' was theatrically released in India on 21 April 2023 in both Bengali and Hindi, becoming the first pan-Indian Bengali film to be released simultaneously in these two languages. It was a commercial success at the box office, running over for 210 days in theatres and emerged as the highest grossing Bengali film of 2023.

Plot

1976: One day, Jaidev Singh finishes a gangster named Rashid Khan, a henchman of a local councillor, in order to avenge his parents' death and steps into the Calcutta underworld at the age of 16 where he starts working for a powerful gangster Md. Omar alias Nalli Bhai and also changes his name as ''Chengiz''.

1970: Earlier, when Jaidev was 10 years old, his parents were killed by a local goon named Rashid Khan at Durgapur, and then inspector Samir Sinha adopted him as his son, as being a maternal uncle.

1995: After working with Nalli Bhai, Chengiz starts to establish his own crime ring across West Bengal, UP and Bihar, but his life changes when he has to deal with his maternal uncle ACP Samir Sinha, who is appointed to eradicate Chengiz's crime ring. A cat-and-mouse game goes on between Jaidev and his maternal uncle for years.

2001: Chengiz managed to escape from Calcutta somehow in disguise and the police failed to arrest him, for which he used Daniel D'Souza since their faces were quite identical.

2022: At Marakkesh, Morocco, Jaidev alias Chengiz (now old) is seen having lunch at a hotel in the end scene, thus implying that he is still operating some parts of Kolkata from there itself (proving himself to be an ''era'' of the Calcutta underworld) and always keeping a constant close watch on his uncle Samir Sinha.

Cast

Production

Development and Pre-production

In February 2022, rumours reported that ''Superstar'' ''Jeet 55'' is going to be a gangster drama directed by Rajesh Ganguly, with a story written by Neeraj Pandey and Ganguly himself. It was also considered to be the 2nd collaboration of the trio, Jeet, Rajesh Ganguly and Neeraj Pandey after 8 years of '' The Royal Bengal Tiger'', which marked their first film together. On 30 March 2022, the film confirmed its title ''Chengiz'', with muharat having been done''.'' Makeup artist Somnath Kundu, famous for making prosthetics, was hired to design the looks of the characters. Imran Sardhariya, who choreographed dance sequences in Jeet's previous film '' Raavan'', was announced to be a part of it. Later Stunt Silva, a renowned fight master from Chennai, was hired to upscale the action sequences of the film.

Casting

Model Susmita Chatterjee, who made her acting debut with '' Prem Tame'' (2021) was signed to play the love interest of the protagonist. Shataf Figar, who played the main antagonist in Jeet's previous film ''Raavan'', was reported to play another pivotal role. Rohit Bose Roy, was signed to portray an important role, being the narrator of the whole film.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack consists of three original songs composed by Aneek Dhar and Kaushik-Guddu, namely, "Widda", "Ebhabe Ke Daake" and "Ragada". Lyrics are written by Pranjal Das and Prosen.

The first song "Widda" was released on 27 March 2023 in Bengali and Hindi. The second song "Ebhabe Ke Daake" in Bengali and "Teri Meri Baatein" in Hindi, released on 8 April 2023. The third song "Ragada" was released on 13 April 2023 in Bengali and Hindi.

Marketing

The official Bengali teaser of the film was released on 30 November 2022. The official Hindi teaser of the film was released on 23 March 2023. The official Bengali and Hindi Trailer of the film was released on 3 April 2023.

Release

Theatrical

The film was released simultaneously in Bengali and Hindi theatrically on 21 April 2023.

Screenings and statistics

Chengiz is released in approximately over 774 screens and with over 1232+ shows in all over India, which was "the highest in recent times for a Bengali film". In India, the Bengali version premiering on over 120 screens, with approximately 300 shows. The Hindi version was reported to showcase on over 650 screens, with over 800 shows.

Reception

Box office

On its opening day, Chengiz collected a total net of crore worldwide including crore from the Bengali version. The Hindi dubbed version of the film initially released theatrically in over 800 shows across India and netted crore at the Indian box office in the first day. The Hindi dubbed version collected crore at the box office in its first week.

Critical response

Ujjainee Roy of ''The Times of India'' rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Chengiz could make the team proud; it’s quite stately in production value and treatment. The action sequences choreographed by Stunt Silva are slick, well-timed and edited quite effortlessly with Jeet excelling in mano-a-mano combat scenes. The long gunfight sequence towards the climax, however, brings in too many elements. This can also be said of the film; it has too many players in the mix, and everyone is out to get Chengiz. After a point, you may stop caring about who’s the lesser (or the better) criminal."

Shamayita Chakraborty of ''OTTplay'' gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Chengiz has a plot and fantastic action sequences but it lacks a convincing presentation. The film starts with sloppy acting and continues to reflect an iota of research as it progresses. Billed as a period film, Chengiz shows the ’90s Kolkata and yet the makers take no effort to make the period look convincing."

Agnivo Niyogi of ''The Telegraph'' reviewed the film and noted "Jeet, who is used to playing a superhuman hero in film after film, lives up to expectations. Be it the action, one-liners or an intense look, he knows how to get it right. Rohit Roy delivers a nuanced performance, especially his act of betrayal just before the climax. Shataf Figar, as Jaidev’s mentor, also makes an impact. The weak link is Jaidev’s love interest Nandini, who is reduced to a trophy wife." He also praised Ganguly's cinematography, the music and songs but criticised the too convoluted sub plots which elongates the runtime.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=

2023 films
2023 action drama films
2023 action thriller films
2023 crime action films
2023 crime thriller films
2020s Bengali-language films
2020s Indian films
Bengali-language Indian films
Indian action thriller films
Indian crime action films
Indian crime thriller films
Indian gangster films
AA Films films
Bengali-language crime action films
Bengali-language action thriller films
Jeetz Filmworks films