SVF Films

Arindam Sil shares details about Dhananjoy

Calcutta Times (TOI): Arindam Sil’s Dhananjoy is based on Dhananjoy Chatterjee – a security guard accused of the gruesome murder and rape of Hetal Parekh and subsequently given capital punishment for it. In the film, starring Anirban Bhattacharya, Mimi Chakraborty, Paran Bandopadhyay, Kaushik Sen, Anusha Viswanathan and others, the case is reopened to find out whether Dhananjoy was actually guilty or not. “We leave the rest for the audience to decide,” said Arindam. On the day of its release, the director shares Dhananjoy’s last wishes with CT:

A day before Dhananjoy was hanged, his psychiatrist, Dr Basu deb Mukhopadhayay, informed him that he would be hanged the very next day, so he should be mentally prepared. After hearing this, Dhananjoy silently looked at him and laughed just once. He hardly spoke a word. He wanted to listen to songs by Manna De, his favourite singer, before getting hanged. He ate quite little for his last meal – aloo posto, dal, bhaat and maachh. He loved dressing up in white kurta pyjama and decided to wear that on his last day. Dhananjoy’s brother, Bikas, told me that his brother had requested him to prove his innocence to the world and that he was accused just because he was poor. When Dhananjoy was taken to the gallows, he kept saying, `Ami nirdosh kintu ami gorib tai amay phasano holo. Bhogoban apnader bhalo koruk.’ He had urged the judiciary to not give out harsh punishments without proper investigation to innocent and poor people like him in future.