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''Gotro'' () is a 2019 Indian
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
-language
emotional Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...
family drama film, directed, produced and co-written by
Nandita Roy Nandita Roy (born April 3, 1955) is an Indian filmmaker, Editor and Screenwriter. She made her directorial debut with the film '' Icche'' (2011) along with her co-director Shiboprosad Mukherjee. The two have also directed ''Accident'', '' Muk ...
and
Shiboprosad Mukherjee Shiboprosad Mukherjee (, Bengali: ; born 20 May 1974) is an Indian film director, writer and actor. With Nandita Roy as his co-director, he made his directorial debut with the film '' Icche'', which garnered critical acclaim and commercial suc ...
. It stars
Anashua Majumdar Anashua Majumdar is an Indian actress who works in Bengali-language films, TV shows and theater. Filmography * '' Shontaan'' (2024) * '' Raktabeej'' (2023) * '' Byadh'' (2022) * '' Aparajito'' (2022) * '' Gotro'' (2019) * '' Mukherjee Dar ...
, Nigel Akkara and
Manali Dey Manali Dey (sometimes Manali De and Manali Manisha Dey) is an Indian television actress. She made her acting debut in the Bengali film ''Kali Aamar Maa'' in 1999. Later she made her television debut in the television serial ''Neer Bhanga Jhor'' ...
, with
Ambarish Bhattacharya Ambarish Bhattacharya (born 13 March 1979) is a Bengali actor and comedian. He started his career through performing at Bengali theatre and stage. He made his television debut in the 2007 playing the character ''Gaja'' in Raja & Gaja. He has ac ...
,
Saheb Chatterjee Shaheb Chatterjee or Saheb Chatterjee () is a Bengali Indian male actor and singer of Tollywood Bangla and Bengali television. Background Shaheb Chatterjee, also known as Shaheb Chattopadhyay, is a famous Bengali Indian male actor and ...
and
Badshah Moitra Badshah Moitra (Born January 1, 1970) (; also known as Badshah Maitra) is an Indian actor, who primarily works in Bengali TV soap operas and films. Career Badshah started his career in Bengali theatre and stage. He made his debut in television ...
. The film revolves around the relationship between Mukti Debi (Majumdar), a
widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died and has usually not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjecti ...
who lives alone in her mansion (her son being settled abroad), with her caretaker Tareq (Akkara), an ex-convict and shows how their lives undergo a change. The story for ''Gotro'' was conceived by Roy, when she learned about the relationship between Mukherjee's mother and her caretaker. Roy eventually wrote the film's
screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...
, while she and Mukherjee co-wrote the story. This marked their second film after ''
Icche ''Icche'' () is a 2011 Bengali language Indian drama film directed by Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy. This is the debut film of the director duo. The film is based on Suchitra Bhattacharya's novel and revolves around the relationship betw ...
'' (2011), focusing on mother-son relationship. ''Supriyo Dutta'' handled the
cinematography Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...
while ''Moloy Laha'' edited the film. ''
Anindya Chatterjee Anindya Chatterjee is an Indian people, Indian Bengalis, Bengali film director, music director, singer, lyricist, actor and Film producer, producer based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He is the singer-lyricist of Bengali band Chandrabindoo (b ...
'' composed the film's soundtrack, which received favourable reviews on release. ''Gotro'' was released on 23 August 2019. It received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Majumdar's performance won high appraisals; criticism was however, drawn towards Akkara's performance. Nevertheless, the film was a commercial success, grossing in its theatrical run. The soundtrack album of the film was highly successful. At the '' 4th Filmfare Awards Bangla'', it received three nominations under '' Best Male Playback'' and '' Best Female Playback'' categories, but did not win any.


Synopsis

Gotro is a story of faith, love and belief, revolving around Mukti Debi, an educated
Bengali Hindu Bengali Hindus () are adherents of Hinduism who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. They make up the majority in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Assam's Barak Valley ...
woman, who lives in an old-world mansion in
North Kolkata North Kolkata encompasses the northern part of Kolkata, including the city's oldest neighborhoods. Notable areas within North Kolkata include Shyambazar, Bagbazar, Kumartuli, Shobhabazar, Posta, Jorasanko, Rajabazar, Phoolbagan, Manikta ...
named Gobinda Dham while her son, Anirban, is settled abroad with his family. Tareq Ali is a former Odiya Muslim convict who is now trying to redeem himself and restart his life. He is employed by Anirban as the caretaker of his mother and her estate. What follows is a tale of how a mother-son relationship begins to build between Mukti Debi and Tareq, while the former is unaware of his Muslim identity, depicting the underlying social issues of the era like
ghettoisation A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...
&
securitisation Securitization is the financial practice of pooling various types of contractual debt such as residential mortgages, commercial mortgages, auto loans, or credit card debt obligations (or other non-debt assets which generate receivables) and sellin ...
of Muslims in the background of the rise of
Hindutva Hindutva (; ) is a Far-right politics, far-right political ideology encompassing the cultural justification of Hindu nationalism and the belief in establishing Hindu hegemony within India. The political ideology was formulated by Vinayak Da ...
in
West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...
since
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
& of cultural barriers. Mukti Debi and Tareq discover the meaning of life as they unfold love for each other and she started loving her as her own son. Gotro is a sweet take on the mother-son relationship with a message of communal harmony.


Cast

*
Anashua Majumdar Anashua Majumdar is an Indian actress who works in Bengali-language films, TV shows and theater. Filmography * '' Shontaan'' (2024) * '' Raktabeej'' (2023) * '' Byadh'' (2022) * '' Aparajito'' (2022) * '' Gotro'' (2019) * '' Mukherjee Dar ...
as Mukti Debi * Nigel Akkara as Tareq Ali/Tarak Guha *
Ambarish Bhattacharya Ambarish Bhattacharya (born 13 March 1979) is a Bengali actor and comedian. He started his career through performing at Bengali theatre and stage. He made his television debut in the 2007 playing the character ''Gaja'' in Raja & Gaja. He has ac ...
as Mukti Debi's family priest *
Saheb Chatterjee Shaheb Chatterjee or Saheb Chatterjee () is a Bengali Indian male actor and singer of Tollywood Bangla and Bengali television. Background Shaheb Chatterjee, also known as Shaheb Chattopadhyay, is a famous Bengali Indian male actor and ...
as Mukti Debi's son, Anirban *
Manali Dey Manali Dey (sometimes Manali De and Manali Manisha Dey) is an Indian television actress. She made her acting debut in the Bengali film ''Kali Aamar Maa'' in 1999. Later she made her television debut in the television serial ''Neer Bhanga Jhor'' ...
as Jhuma, the daughter of Mukti Debi's cook *
Badshah Moitra Badshah Moitra (Born January 1, 1970) (; also known as Badshah Maitra) is an Indian actor, who primarily works in Bengali TV soap operas and films. Career Badshah started his career in Bengali theatre and stage. He made his debut in television ...
as Police Inspector Ritam, Anirban's friend *
Kharaj Mukherjee Kharaj Mukherjee or Kharaj Mukhopadhyay is an Indian actor, comedian and singer. He won the Bengal Film Journalists' Association – Best Male Playback Award in 2004 for the film '' Patalghar''. Over the years, he has established himself as on ...
as Bapi, a local politician *
Biswanath Basu Biswanath Basu (or sometimes Biswanath Bose) is an Indian actor and comedian, who predominantly works in the Bengali film industry. In a career spanning over two decades, he has acted in over 80 films and is known for his comic roles. Filmogra ...
in a special appearance in "Mashima Hitler" song *
Santu Mukhopadhyay Santu Mukherjee (13 January 1951 – 11 March 2020) was an Indian actor who worked in Bengali cinema. He was the father of actress Swastika Mukherjee. His younger brother, Sumanta Mukherjee, is also an actor. Early life and biography Santu ...
as Sajal Da * Devlina Kumar and Om Sahani in a special appearance in "Rongoboti" song *
Aditi Munshi Aditi Munshi (born 26 August 1988) is an Indian singer and politician from West Bengal. She is known for singing many Hindu devotional songs in Bengali. She was also a participant of Zee Bangla's Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2015. She won the Rajarhat Gop ...
in a special appearance in “Srikrishno Kirton


Production

According to Mukherjee, long ago, '' Nigel Akkara'' had sent a young boy to his home at ''
Baranagar Baranagar (Bengali language, Bengali: বরানগর) is a city and a municipality in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area ...
'' as they were looking for a caretaker. After some days, the boy informed Mukherjee that he felt he wasn't fit for the job. On being asked why, he replied that Mukherjee's mother had been teaching him the texts of ''
Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...
'' and he couldn't understand any of those. This formed the core plot for ''Gotro''. Nandita Roy opted for ''
Anashua Majumdar Anashua Majumdar is an Indian actress who works in Bengali-language films, TV shows and theater. Filmography * '' Shontaan'' (2024) * '' Raktabeej'' (2023) * '' Byadh'' (2022) * '' Aparajito'' (2022) * '' Gotro'' (2019) * '' Mukherjee Dar ...
'' to pick up the character traits of Mukherjee's mother. Majumdar revealed being moved by the character ''Mukti Devi''; especially when she learned that it had been inspired by Shiboprosad's mother. She also admitted of having some similarities with the character, though she had no belief in caste and creed discrimination. ''Nigel Akkara'', who had gained fame through the film ''
Muktodhara ''Muktodhara'' is a 2012 Bengali Prison film directed by Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy. This is a story about the prisoners of a correctional home ‒ Presidency jail who all have a dark past life but here they are being reformed day by d ...
'', was signed on for one of the leads. Recalling about his experience, Akkara said that the filming has been one of the best times of his life and he has been inspired by the way people approached him and praised him. ''
Manali Dey Manali Dey (sometimes Manali De and Manali Manisha Dey) is an Indian television actress. She made her acting debut in the Bengali film ''Kali Aamar Maa'' in 1999. Later she made her television debut in the television serial ''Neer Bhanga Jhor'' ...
'' was cast as ''Jhuma''; she expressed her excitement on being a part of the film and opined that her character personified a "flying butterfly". Actors ''
Saheb Chatterjee Shaheb Chatterjee or Saheb Chatterjee () is a Bengali Indian male actor and singer of Tollywood Bangla and Bengali television. Background Shaheb Chatterjee, also known as Shaheb Chattopadhyay, is a famous Bengali Indian male actor and ...
'', ''
Kharaj Mukherjee Kharaj Mukherjee or Kharaj Mukhopadhyay is an Indian actor, comedian and singer. He won the Bengal Film Journalists' Association – Best Male Playback Award in 2004 for the film '' Patalghar''. Over the years, he has established himself as on ...
'' and ''
Tota Roy Chowdhury Tota Roy Chowdhury is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Bengali and Hindi cinema. He is also known for his versatile acting performances, fitness, martial arts and dance moves. His notable roles include Feluda in the Hoichoi web series ...
'' were signed on for other pivotal roles. Later, Roy Chowdhury, however, was replaced by ''
Badshah Moitra Badshah Moitra (Born January 1, 1970) (; also known as Badshah Maitra) is an Indian actor, who primarily works in Bengali TV soap operas and films. Career Badshah started his career in Bengali theatre and stage. He made his debut in television ...
''. During the initial stages of production, Mukherjee and Roy were reluctant to talk about the film's theme and casting; they wanted people to guess it. It marked their second collaboration in 2019 after their recent outing ''
Konttho ''Konttho'' () is a 2019 Bengali drama film directed by Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee. The movie is produced by Windows Production. Plot A story of friendship and struggle, Konttho is about the indomitable human spirit. Arjun Mallick ...
'', released six weeks prior to ''Gotro''. Upon its completion, the film was slated for release on the occasion of ''
Krishna Janmashtami Krishna Janmashtami (), also known simply as Krishnashtami, Janmashtami, or Gokulashtami, is an annual Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu. In certain Hindu texts, such as the '' Gita Govinda ...
'' in August 2019. Speaking to ''
The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'', Mukherjee addressed the film to be yet "another moving human story" alike their other films. Being based on a '' social subject'' (this was consistently reported), the film caused great hype and anticipation in the media even before its release.


Release and reception

Gotro was released on 23 August 2019, coinciding with ''
Janmashtami Krishna Janmashtami (), also known simply as Krishnashtami, Janmashtami, or Gokulashtami, is an annual Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu. In certain Hindu texts, such as the ''Gita Govinda' ...
''. Owing to its social theme, the film became one of the rare Bengali films to be released nationwide. It enjoyed full houses for almost all its shows across Bengal, and completed a 100 day run at the ''
Box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...
''. Having opened to a tremendous response in the first week, with its sales improving in the second week, the film emerged a highly successful venture. The subject of the film was seen appealing to people of all ages.


Soundtrack

The soundtrack is composed by
Anindya Chatterjee Anindya Chatterjee is an Indian people, Indian Bengalis, Bengali film director, music director, singer, lyricist, actor and Film producer, producer based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He is the singer-lyricist of Bengali band Chandrabindoo (b ...
. The song, Rongoboti, is inspired by the famous Odia song by the same name. It received enormous appreciation from the audience. The music album is one of the best in the last five years in terms of song reach, music album and awards. Rongoboti alone has a reach of 160+ million views on YouTube.


References


External links

* {{Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee 2019 films Bengali-language Indian films 2010s Bengali-language films Indian drama films Films directed by Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee Windows Production films