''Oti Uttam'' is a 2024 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

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

romantic comedy film Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Romantic comedy e ...

written, co-produced and directed by

Srijit Mukherji Srijit Mukherji (born 23 September 1977) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who predominantly works in Bengali cinema. His regular collaboration with veteran actor Prosenjit Chatterjee brought him into the limelight. His first featur ...

under Camellia Productions and Matchcut Productions. Veteran Bengali actor

Uttam Kumar Uttam Kumar (born Arun Kumar Chattopadhyay; 3 September 1926 – 24 July 1980), widely known as Mahanayak (), was an Indian film actor, producer, director, screenwriter, composer, and playback singer who predominantly worked in Bengali cinema ...

appears in the screen through

Visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated as VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action fo ...

from his existing clippings from his various films. His character was built by the scenes of his 56 existing old movies.

Plot

Krishnendu, a Ph.D. researcher working on a project on ''Mahanayak'' Uttam Kumar. He likes a girl but gets refused every times. The researcher decides to bring his icon Uttam Kumar's spirit through

planchette A planchette ( or ), from the French for "little Plank (wood), plank", is a small, usually heart-shaped flat piece of wood equipped with two wheeled casters and a pencil-holding aperture pointing downwards, used to facilitate automatic writin ...

. Mahanayak's grandson helps him in to fulfill the love life of researcher. But things get complicated when Sohini falls in love for with Uttam Kumar at the first sight of his spirit.

Cast

as himself (Montages from his early Films) * Anindya Sengupta as Krishnendu a Ph.D researcher *

Gourab Chatterjee Gourab Chatterjee is an Indian film and television actor based in Kolkata. He is the grandson of Uttam Kumar. Career His debut film, ''Bhalobasar Onek Naam'' (2006), was directed by film director Tarun Majumdar and co-starred Soumitra Chatt ...

as himself * Roshni Bhattacharyya as Sohini *

Laboni Sarkar Laboni Sarkar is an Indian actress who is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She is the recipient of three BFJA Awards. She began her acting career in a Bengali TV series by Jochon Dastidar. She made her Big screen debut in Aparna Sen's '' ...

as Krishnendu's Mother *

Subhasish Mukherjee Subhasish Mukherjee is an Indian actor who works in Bengali films. He generally appears in comedic and supporting roles, but has proven his versatility as an actor in films like '' Herbert'' and ''Mahalaya''. Some of his well-known films incl ...

as Krishnendu's Father * VJ Jina

Music

The music of the film is composed by Saptak Sanai Das and lyrics are penned by Dhrubojyoti Chakraborty, Kaustuv Bhattacharya and

. The first single "Saiyyan Beimaan" was released on 14 February 2024. The second single "Chawl Meye" was released on 21 February 2024. The third single "Mon Kharaper Gaan" was dropped on 28 February 2024. The fourth song "Bondhu Bhaabi" was releasesd on 8 March 2024.

Original

Release

The film was scheduled for theatrical release in 2023. After multiple delays, the film has theatrically released on 22 March 2024.

Reception

Poorna Banerjee of 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 ...

rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and praised Mukherji for his efforts to create a cinematic cosmos out of his existing chaotic filmography, but she criticised the length, the loopholes in the plot and the performance of the cast, except Anindya. Shamayita Chakraborty of

OTTplay HT Media is an Indian mass media company based in Delhi. It has holdings in print, electronic and digital media. HT Media's flagship newspaper is the ''Hindustan Times'', the second most widely read English newspaper in India after ''The Times of ...

rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Srijit Mukherji scores 10 on 10 in effort but an aerial Uttam Kumar fails him." She praised Mukherji's experimentation, the music but criticised the story and missing links from the story. Agnivo Niyogi of

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

reviewed the film on a positive note, praising the cinematography, Mukherji's efforts for integration of dialogue snippets and visuals from Uttam Kumar's films and the acting of the whole cast.

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

and

Sangbad Pratidin Sangbad Pratidin () is a daily Indian Bengali language, Bengali newspaper simultaneously published from Kolkata, Barjora and Siliguri. It was founded by Swapan Sadhan Bose, on 9 August 1992. The Editor-in-Chief is Srinjoy Bose. Content Beside ...

also gave similar reviews on the film.

References

{{Srijit Mukherji Bengali-language Indian films Indian romantic comedy films Films directed by Srijit Mukherji 2022 films