By Rituparna Sengupta Basu
Super talented couple Gurmeet Choudhury and Debina Bonnerjee are all set to their digital debut with the filmmaker Ram Kamal Mukherjee’s fourth Hindi venture Shubho Bijoya- A Mishti Love Story. They will be seen together on screen after 11 years since their popular epic Ramayan. The first look of the film unveiled today, on the auspicious day of Mahalaya.
The tale revolves around a fashion photographer Shubho who turns blind, while his supermodel wife Bijoya is diagnosed with cancer. The film is an emotional story of two couples and their journey.
Debina, Gurmeet and director Ram Kamal Mukherjee
“This story is inspired by O Henry’s The Gift of Magi, which has been my favourite short story since my school days. But we have incorporated a real-life incident which makes brings in a completely different aspect of the story. We have been planning to work together, since we met in London during my promotion of Cakewalk, while Gurmeet was there to promote Paltan,” says director Ram Kamal Mukherjee whose film Cakewalk earlier this year received rave reviews.
In this film, Debina and Gurmeet will be seen as a Bengali couple for the first time.
“I totally jumped at the idea, when Ram Kamal narrated me the story. I have seen Cakewalk and felt that he handled the emotion very well. I somehow feel connected to Kolkata, the people and food make the city so vibrant. I also feel that Kolkata is the city of literature. In fact I missed our Bengali style wedding, hopefully, in the film, Ram Kamal will create some Bengali magic,” says Gurmeet (laughs).
On the other side, Debina Bonnerjee who is currently playing a lead in Colors’ Vish, will be working on her look in the film as there will be a drastic change in her physical appearance from being a supermodel to a cancer patient.
Before the shoot Gurmeet and Debina will be attending workshops with physically challenged patients and cancer patients to bring authenticity in the character.
Debina shares, “We have been getting offers since Ramayan days, we have said no to films, web series and short films. We wanted to do a film that would excite us as an actor. As an actor, we need to behave like a responsible citizen and make sure that we don’t hurt anyone with our portrayal. It’s a very auspicious day for all of us, especially Bengalis, we couldn’t have asked for a better day.’’
Shubho Bijoya- A Misti Love Story produced under the banner of Assorted Motion Pictures and GeeDee Productions, it will be shot in Mumbai and released during Valentine’s Day.
Producer Aritra Das says, “I always wanted to make an out and out romantic film. I have grown up watching films of Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan. They have created magic on screen as a romantic hero. These days we are more into style and very less into emotion. Ram Kamal da being a sensitive director likes to explore relationships. This film will be completely different from what we have been making in the recent past.” On the other hand, Gaurav Daga from GeeDee Productions feels that “Gurmeet and Debina are loved by a lot of people. It will be a visual delight to see them as a romantic couple on screen after Ramayan. Barring few reality shows they have not shared screen space, and moreover, they have not worked in a film together.”
