Rati,Mahesh Manjrekar in Bengali film

Ardhangini has Bollywood actors Mahesh Manjrekar and Rati Agnihotri playing a couple.

3 min readMumbaiMar 16, 2012 04:51 PM IST First published on: Mar 16, 2012 at 04:51 PM IST

Bengali cinema has widened its horizons. The cast and crew of many contemporary Bengali films draw not only from Bollywood but also from other regions. Therefore,the term Bengali cinema means something broader and wider than it meant during the golden era of Uttam Kumar and Tapan Sinha. Debutant director Abhishek Mukherjees Ardhangini is an example The film features two stellar Bollywood actors,Mahesh Manjrekar and Rati Agnihotri in important roles. This is the second Bengali film for both. Agnihotri played one of the two female leads in Aaina while Manjrekar portrayed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in his production Ami Subhash Bolchhi.

Explaining why he chose Mahesh Manjrekar and Rati Agnihotri over Bengali actors,Mukherjee said,It was a coincidence,really. I have great regard for Maheshji and consider him one of the finest actors in the country. One sees him in every other Bollywood hit from Bodyguard to Dabangg to Ready. One does not see Ratiji that often but when I narrated the script to them,they agreed at once. It is not as if I have not taken Bengali actors. The rest of the cast is from the industry. Also their presence in the film will add to its box-office value.