Autograph

Shubhabrata, Indraneil Sengupta, is an ambitious but green filmmaker who aims for a breakthrough with his first foray into fiction: a modern remake of Satyajit Ray’s Nayak. He reimagines the story by swapping out classic settings for current ones—an airplane replaces the train, and the ending of Ray’s original is stretched out in his script. His dream project quickly collides with the practical reality of getting a big star on board. He repeatedly tries to recruit Prosenjit Chatterjee to play the hero, but is curtly dismissed by the actor’s team, led by Ashish (Pijush Ganguly) and Partha (Dwijen Banerjee).

The turning point arrives when Arun Chatterjee confronts a public, ego-shaking rebuke from Manoj Sarkar on a TV platform. Spurred by pride and a hunger to prove himself, Arun privately decides to bankroll and front the film, curbing the objections of Ashish and Partha and treating the project as a personal referendum on his own star power. The casting choice lands squarely on Srinandita, Shubhabrata’s live-in girlfriend, an actress rooted in translated European theatre. Srinandita—played by Nandana Sen—agrees to take the role after some initial hesitation, first aligning with Shubhabrata’s vision and later becoming a crucial emotional touchstone in the film’s unfolding drama.

As the production moves forward, Manoj Sarkar approaches Shubhabrata with a lifeline in case Arun falters, only to be rebuffed. Meanwhile, the two leads form a visible rapport in front of the camera, and Shubhabrata’s confidence grows along with a hint of arrogance. The lines between fiction and reality blur when the film’s narrative starts echoing in real life, and Arun and Srinandita’s closeness deepens into genuine companionship. Srinandita becomes not just a co-star but a confidante, and the film’s sense of ethical boundaries begins to fray.

The emotional core tightens when Arun, in a drunken moment, confesses to exploiting an aspiring actress during casting. Srinandita consoles him, framing his guilt as a sign of potential redemption. This confession is recorded on Srinandita’s handycam, a device she carries to rehearse for her next stage appearance as Antigone. Seizing a chance for publicity, Shubhabrata contends that the clip could turbocharge the film’s launch. Srinandita, sensing the danger of such a use, urges him to scrap the idea and insists on keeping the material private. Yet Shubhabrata proceeds, passing the clip to a TV news channel without Srinandita’s knowledge, sparking a cascade of consequences.

When the broadcast surfaces, Arun confronts both Shubhabrata and Srinandita, feeling betrayed and hurting from the manipulation. Srinandita reaches out to explain and apologize, but the moment hardens into distance. Arun’s response is fierce: he refuses to take legal action against the channel and, in a decisive blow, damages the relationship and pauses the film’s future. The revelation of Srinandita’s innocence helps him see the harm in the filmmaker’s opportunistic tactics, yet he ultimately decides to cancel the project and warns Shubhabrata about the consequences of inflating power with a camera and a story.

In the aftermath, Shubhabrata is seen missing Srinandita, but the final note of the film remains unresolved. A meeting with Manoj hints at a possible future, yet the outcome is deliberately left open, lingering like the ethical questions the film raises about ambition, art, and the price of success. The narrative artfully tracks the way a director’s drive to create a hit can pull the people around him into a web where friendship, responsibility, and fame collide, leaving viewers to ponder where art ends and personal integrity begins.

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 10:25