Sarat Chandra's novel on big screen again

Vidya Balan (L) and Raima Sen in Parineeta

The latest to join the bandwagon is Pradeep Sarkar who is set to make his directorial debut next month when his feature film Parineeta. Starring Sanjay Dutt (in the role of Girish) Saif Ali Khan (in the role of Shekhar), Raima Sen, Diya Mirza and newcomer Vidya Balan (as heroine Lolita), the film will be premiered at the India International Film Awards (IIFA) function in Amsterdam next month. Produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Parineeta is described by its makers as an "cinematic adaptation" of Chattopadhyay's novel and set in Kolkata of the 1960s.

After one has seen Sanjay Leela Bhansali's highly controversial celluloid "adaptation" of Chattopadhyaya's Devdas a few years ago, it remains to be seen how another novel by the Bengali novelist is recreated on the big screen this time by Sarkar who has come to feature film-making after being an ad film maker for a long time.

Chopra has already made a name for himself as a maker of super-hit Bollywood movies like Munnabhai MBBS, which had won the national award for best entertaining film for 2003, Parinda introducing actor Nana Patekar in a negative role in 1989, 1942 A Love Story and Mission Kashmir in 2000.

Parineeta also stars leading Bengali film and television actor Sabyasachi Chakravarty.

Sanjay Dutt is clearly a favourite of Vidhu Vinod Chopra, as the actor has already appeared in Mission Kashmir and Munnabhai MBBS and is also going to star in the producer-director's forthcoming movies in the next two years, Munnabhai Meets Mahatma Gandhi and Yagna which also has Amitabh Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan in it.

When Pradeep Sarkar's Parineeta is shown at the IIFA function in Amsterdam, it will be the first time an Indian film will have its premier in Holland.