Chhotolok
| Chhotolok | |
|---|---|
 Chhotolok Poster | |
| Genre | Suspense Thriller |
| Created by | Indranil Roychowdhury |
| Screenplay by | Sugata Sinha, Indranil Roychowdhury |
| Directed by | Indranil Roychowdhury |
| Starring | Indrani Haldar Daminee Benny Basu Gaurav Chakrabarty Priyanka Sarkar Ushasie Chakraborty Ushasi Ray |
| Music by | Gaurab Gaboo Chatterjee |
| Country of origin | India |
| Original language | Bengali |
| No. of episodes | 9 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Samar Ray |
| Producers | Patralika Mukherjee, Soumya Mukhopadhyay, Anasua Roychoudhury |
| Editor | Amit Ray |
| Original release | |
| Network | ZEE5 |
| Release | 3 November 2023 |
Chhotolok is Bengali crime thriller drama web series starring Indrani Haldar, Daminee Benny Basu, Gaurav Chakrabarty, Priyanka Sarkar, Ushashi Ray, Pratik Dutta and Ushasie Chakraborty. It was created and directed by Indranil Roychowdhury. It is also the director's first web series.[1][2][3]
Plot
[edit]Desperate to come out of a failing marriage, a married man gets into a whirlwind affair with a glamorous woman who has a criminal past, but ends up as the prime accused when she is murdered. The case falls into a timid but determined cop who unearths a deep buried scandal about the man's family involving his politically affiliated mother.
Cast
[edit]- Indrani Haldar[4] as Mohor Bhattacharya: A political leader.
- Damini Benny Basu as Sabitri Mondol: Sub-Inspector of Gajipur Police Station; Investigator of the murder case of Rupsha Ghosh.
- Gaurav Chakrabarty as Raja Bhattacharya: An engineer; Mohor's son; Mallika's husband.
- Priyanka Sarkar as Mallika Das: An accountant; Raja's wife.
- Ushasi Ray[5] as Rupsha Ghosh: Model cum actor; Mallika's ex colleague.
- Ushasie Chakraborty[6] as Kasturi Guha: A chartered accountant, who rules many "big fishes".
- Debesh Chattopadhyay as Tanmay Bagchi: A political leader, MLA; Mohor Bhattacharya's rival.
- Loknath Dey as Farooq.
- Joydip Mukherjee as Aditya Bhattacharya: Mohor's husband; Raja's father.
- Sumeet Samaddar as Madhusudan: Mohor's younger brother.
- Jeet Sundar Chakrabarty as Basudev Das aka Basu.
- Pratik Dutta as Jamil Sheikh: Junior of Sabitri.
- Tapasya Dasgupta as Pushpo: Putul and Basu's mother.
- Suvrajit Dutta as Rudra Mondal: A medicine shop keeper; Sabitri's husband.
Episodes
[edit]| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | 3 November 2023 | ||
Season 1 (2023)
[edit]| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Length (Minutes) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "A Respectable Residential Complex" | Indranil Roychowdhury | Sugata Sinha, Indranil Roychowdhury | 3 November 2023 | 30 Minutes | |
|
A young woman is found dead in her apartment. Sub Inspector Sabitri Mondal and ASI Jamil Sheikh from the Gazitala Police Station are assigned to the case. | ||||||
| 2 | "An Open And Shut Case" | Indranil Roychowdhury | Sugata Sinha, Indranil Roychowdhury | 3 November 2023 | 30 Minutes | |
|
The police arrest the victim's secret lover, but he denies committing the crime. Is he telling the truth? | ||||||
| 3 | "The Little Mercies of an Antacid" | Indranil Roychowdhury | Sugata Sinha, Indranil Roychowdhury | 3 November 2023 | 30 Minutes | |
|
The interrogation continues as the police dive deep into Raja Bhattacharya's past. They find more details about his family and a brief affair with Rupsa. | ||||||
| 4 | "Darling, Come to Me" | Indranil Roychowdhury | Sugata Sinha, Indranil Roychowdhury | 3 November 2023 | 30 Minutes | |
|
The police start interrogating Mallika and find out about Rupsa's double life. An unnatural death from Mohor's past resurfaces. | ||||||
| 5 | "Patiala to Patuli" | Indranil Roychowdhury | Sugata Sinha, Indranil Roychowdhury | 3 November 2023 | 30 Minutes | |
|
Rupsa's murder case goes to court. Raja's married life comes to the forefront. Police start investigating the stories and plots surrounding the murder. | ||||||
| 6 | "City of Dogs" | Indranil Roychowdhury | Sugata Sinha, Indranil Roychowdhury | 3 November 2023 | 30 Minutes | |
|
An unexpected meeting of two old acquaintances reveals further details about the Bhattacharya family's murky past. | ||||||
| 7 | "A Big Fish" | Indranil Roychowdhury | Sugata Sinha, Indranil Roychowdhury | 3 November 2023 | 30 Minutes | |
|
Madhu gets a reality check, and more skeletons from the past tumble out. The investigation leads the police to an influential person. | ||||||
| 8 | "An Undelivered Package" | Indranil Roychowdhury | Sugata Sinha, Indranil Roychowdhury | 3 November 2023 | 30 Minutes | |
|
Sub Inspector Sabitri Mondal is about to take a chance that could potentially end her career. What will her next step be? | ||||||
| 9 | "Egg Mutton Roll" | Indranil Roychowdhury | Sugata Sinha, Indranil Roychowdhury | 3 November 2023 | 30 Minutes | |
|
Familiar faces emerge in unfamiliar territories as Sabitri wraps up the case. But is the case really solved? | ||||||
Production
[edit]Director Indranil Roychowdhury started shooting for the show in October 2022 after a year of scripting and workshops with his actors.[7]
Marketing
[edit]The show was officially announced by ZEE5 on December 11, 2022.[8] [9] Following that, a teaser poster of the show was first revealed on Jun 8, 2023.[10] The trailer of the show was launched on October 12, 2023.[11][12]
Reception
[edit]The show drew positive reactions across board from critics. The Indian Express call it "Bengal’s best web series" rating it 4 out of 5.[13] OTTPlay commented, "Chhotolok is one of the finest Bengali content available in India in the OTT space."[14]
References
[edit]- ^ "Web series 'Chhotolok' to stream soon". The Times Of India. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ "Actor Ushasi Ray talks about her role in the web series Chhotolok". IndulgeExpress. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
- ^ "Director Indranil Roychowdhury opens up about his web series debut Chhotolok". IndulgeExpress. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
- ^ "Chhotolok trailer: Priyanka Sarkar, Ushasi Ray, Gaurav Chakraborty shine in Indranil Roychowdhury's show". ottplay.com. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ "Ushasi Ray to entertain the viewers in a new web series". timesofindia.com. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ "Exclusive! Ushasie Chakraborty: Lobbying and PR are more important qualities than the acting ability to bag a role in Tollywood". ottplay.com. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ "Indranil Roychowdhury on Chhotolok: I want to make a pure Bengali thriller without any influence of Hollywood, Nordic or Korean style". ottplay.com. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ "ZEE5 announces new Bengali shows with popular directors and actors", The Telegraph (India), retrieved 25 October 2023
- ^ "ZEE5 to strengthen regional play with original content slate in Bengali", TheHinduBusinessline.com, retrieved 25 October 2023
- ^ "Chotolok Poster Out: ওটিটিতে এবার স্ক্রিনশেয়ার শ্রীময়ী-জুন আন্টির, মুক্তি পেল নতুন সিরিজের মোশন পোস্টার". etvbharat.com (in Bengali). Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ "Zee 5 Series Chhotolok Trailer: গোয়েন্দা গিন্নির পর রাজনীতির ময়দানে ইন্দ্রানী, রহস্য-যৌনতায় ঠাসা 'ছোটলোক'-র ট্রেলার". eisamay.com (in Bengali). Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ "'Chhotolok' trailer: Indranil Roychowdhury's thriller promises a riveting murder mystery". TheTimesOfIndia.com. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ "Caste, class and a special brand of sexism: Chhotolok, Bengal's best web series is defiantly feminist". IndianExpress.com. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
- ^ "Chhotolok review: Daminee Basu shines bright in Indranil Roy Chowdhury's unputdownable cop drama". IndianExpress.com. Retrieved 5 November 2023.