Jio Studios and SVF Entertainment Unveil Trailer for "Athhoi," A Modern Interpretation of Shakespearean Drama- Othello The film is slated to grace the silver screen on June 14th! “Truths are illusions of which we have forgotten that they are illusions” --- Nietzsche Kolkata, June 06th, 2024 – Jio Studios and SVF Entertainment have released the highly anticipated Trailer for "Athhoi," just one week ahead of the film's premiere. The trailer offers an enigmatic glimpse into the human heart and society, promising a captivating cinematic experience. "Athhoi" captures the essence of Shakespeare's exploration of human emotions, portraying love, deception, and rivalry in a contemporary setting. It begins with a powerful depiction of the human existential crisis, examining the dichotomy of good and bad, and how society provokes these internal conflicts. The trailer sparks conversations about love, jealousy, and ambition in today's world, delivering a profound message on the concept of truth and challenging our conventional understanding. The film features a stellar cast including Arna Mukhopadhyay, Anirban Bhattacharya, Sohini Sarkar, Ditipriya Roy, Mimi Dutta, Arpan Ghoshal, Kaushik Banerjee, and other important cast – crew members. Arna Mukhopadhyay, the Director and the Actor breathing life into Dr. Athhoi Lodha (Othello), shared his thoughts, "'Athhoi' is a labour of love that has taken years to bring to fruition. With this trailer, our aim is to delve deep into the complexities of human emotions and present a modern interpretation of Shakespeare's timeless tale. Through this film, we hope to evoke profound emotions and reflections." Anirban Bhattacharya, who plays Gogo (echoing Iago from Shakespeare's original work) and serves as the Creative Director, expressed his sentiments, "We were clear from the beginning on how to create this Shakespearean world. Every shot division was meticulously planned, and our team worked tirelessly from pre-production to post-production. As the release date approaches, there is a mix of excitement and nervousness. We hope for the best." Sohini Sarkar, who brings to life the spirited and intelligent character of Diya, reminiscent of Desdemona, remarked, "Playing Diya was a transformative experience. This role allowed me to explore the depths of human resilience and vulnerability. 'Athhoi' invites audiences to question and feel, making it a truly immersive journey." Set for release on June 14th, "Athhoi" is poised to be a cinematic milestone, eagerly awaited by audiences worldwide. Through its innovative interpretation, the film promises to offer a thought-provoking exploration of jealousy, ambition, and love today.

Team Montu Pilot come together to discuss its alluring premise

Kolkata, December 16th, 2019: There’s a saying that hoichoi never disappoints when it comes to their unique content – and yet again, the leading Bengali entertainment platform has started streaming ‘Montu Pilot’. It is a powerful web series by Debaloy Bhattacharya highlighting the largest and most popular ‘red light’ district of Kolkata (in Sonagachi) about the daily life of the sex workers in a fictionalised manner. Montu Pilot points out the discrimination faced by the sex workers of Sonagachi and how it is turning out to be an eye-opener for the audience.

To bring forth the multi-faceted issues prevalent in Sonagachi, or red-light areas in general, team Montu Pilot comprising of Saurav Das, Solanki, Chandrayee Ghosh, Subrat Dutta and Debaloy Bhattacharya, got together to talk to the media professionals and at the same time, discuss the premise of the web show. This initiative was a joint effort by hoichoi and Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee or simply, Durbar. Established in 1992, Durbar has a collective of 65,000 sex workers in the state of West Bengal alone. They focus on women’s rights, others rights advocacy, anti-human trafficking, HIV/AIDS prevention and more such pivotal issues by running more than 50 free clinics with support from various organisations to create an alternative livelihood for sex workers in West Bengal.

The story of Montu Pilot begins with a kid who aspired to become a pilot. Instead he grew up to be a pimp, a courier of sex workers in the red-light area of the city called ‘NeelKuthi’. Thus, he became “Montu Pilot” (Saurav Das) to everyone. 

Supervised by Bibi Jaan (Chandrayee Ghosh), Taufik (Kanchan Mullick) and The Doctor (Subrat Dutta), NeelKuthi is a ruthless place filled with lonely souls. Here comes Bhromor (Solanki). She is a simple village girl who is being smuggled and sold here. Montu Pilot unknowingly starts protecting her from the miseries of this place. It brings them closer. For Bhromor now destined to be a sex worker against her will, Montu is the only ray of hope. For Montu, he is in a state of denial. He is doomed, he can’t leave this place. Montu Pilot is a tragic story of a pimp who dreamt of being a pilot and a prostitute who dreamt of marrying her partner and starting a family. What will happen if they fall in love? Can a pimp and a prostitute be together? Will the horrors of NeelKuthi allow that?

Director Debaloy Bhattacharya said, “When I wrote this story, I had to do ample amount of research to get all the facts correct and showcase the ambience in its truest form for the audience to experience the plight of our lead characters. Montu Pilot, all in all, primarily is a tragic love story of two souls who were pushed by fate to meet in unforeseen circumstances and fall in love. I sincerely thank Durbar team to give us a platform here in Sonagachi to express our views and throw light at the issues being mitigated by them.”

Watch the episodes of Montu Pilot which are streaming now – www.hoichoi.tv/webseries/montu-pilot

About hoichoi:

hoichoi is a leading Bengali entertainment platform with over 2,000+ hours of Movies, exclusive Original Series, Songs, Music Videos and more. hoichoi aims to take the best of Bengali content globally and connect the 250+ million Bengalis residing worldwide to their roots. With features like Offline Download, AD free Seamless Viewing Experience, unlimited HD Video Streaming, Bilingual Interface (English & Bengali), Multi-Device Capability and English subtitles – one can download the hoichoi App from Android (http://bit.ly/AndroidHCDownload) and iOS App Stores (http://bit.ly/iTunesHCDownload) to watch on their Mobile Phones, as well as on Desktop/Laptop through www.hoichoi.tv and on TVs through Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast and Roku.

Founded in 2017, it is SVF New Media’s maiden venture. hoichoi is headed by Co-Founder Vishnu Mohta who is also the Executive Director of SVF.

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