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Srijit Mukherji: ‘Shah Jahan Regency’ is a reinterpretation, not reincarnation of ‘Chowringhee’

Srijit Mukherji’s ‘Shah Jahan Regency’, revolving around the inside stories of a five-star hotel, is touted to be a modern retelling of Shankar’s iconic novel ‘Chowringhee’. Featuring Parambrata Chatterjee Abir Chatterjee Anjan Dutt, Mamata Shankar, Anirban Bhattacharya, Rudrani Ghosh and Kanchan Mallick in the lead roles, shooting for the social drama has already commenced.

‘Chowringhee’ was immortalised by the Bengali cult classic of the same name starring Uttam Kumar, Supriya Devi and Subhendu Chatterjee in 1968. So, it’s obviously a risky decision to make a film on the same novel once again. But Srijit assures his film that his film will not be a rip off from the original novel.

“Chowringhee always rings a nostalgic bell among us. But I must say ‘Shah Jahan Regency’ is not at all a rip off of that novel. It has been adapted from the book and the main plot remains the same. I have just altered everything else about the story. It’s a reinterpretation, not a reincarnation. Shankar wrote Chowringhee in 1962, so in 2018 a large portion of the plot’s relevance is missing. Like, the novel has a backdrop of a post-colonial Calcutta, when there was a big active Anglo Indian community in the city. That’s why the characters Marco Polo, Jimmy, Juno and Byron seemed relevant. But I have scrapped all these characters and their names. Each of the characters witnesses a rebirth in my film,” the renowned filmmaker stated.