Where has the action gone from theatres?

Mithunda and his string of action-packed and 8220;political8221; flicks like MLA Fatakeshto, Juddha and Tulkalam had earlier swept the box office. Today, the tumultuous love story of a young couple from Siliguri has all but relegated Mithunda and his action flicks to the background.

8220;Chirodini Tumi Je Amar CTJA has brought romance back to theatres and suddenly love stories with fresh faces seem to have become the flavour of the season,8221; says Arijit Dutta of Eastern India Motion Pictures Association EIMPA.

CTJA was supposedly inspired from the infamous Rizanwur-Priyanka incident and stars fresh faces 8212; Priyanka and Rahul 8212; in the lead. Made on a budget of Rs 1.5 crore, the film has so far grossed more than Rs 4 crores, an amount unheard in the Tollywood circuit.

After the success of the film, which was released in August this year, a string of 8220;love stories8221; with relatively unknown actors have flooded the cinema halls in Bengal. Bhalobasha Bhalobasha, Tomar Jonno and Love Story to name a few. 8220;Of these films only Bhalobasha Bhalobasha has managed to make a mark,8221; says Dutta.

But this has not deterred the filmmakers from investing in romance.

8220;Love stories have always been an integral part of Bengali cinema. CTJA made a mark because of the way the story was narrated,8221; says Srikant Mohta of Shree Venkatesh Films, the producers of CTJA Shree Venkatesh films itself has a couple of romantic films lined up for release, which include Raj Chakraborty8217;s Challenge and Kaushik Ganguly8217;s Jackpot, introducing Rahul and Sohini Pal.

So is this the end of the road for Mithunda and his brand of action film? 8220;Not really. The only reason for us not releasing a Mithunda film in the past few months is the fact that we haven8217;t found a good enough script for him. But it is true that the last Fatakeshto film didn8217;t do as well as his earlier movies. People were a little bored to watch the same thing again,8221; says Mohta who had produced both the Fatakeshto films.

But Raj Chakraborty, the director of CTJA, feels that it8217;s all about the herd mentality of the industry.

8220;If tomorrow an action film appeals to the audience, you will be subjected to a shower of action films. These trends will always be there. But we must realise that only good films make a mark,8221; sums up Chakraborty.