Muktodhara

Muktodhara is a 2012 Bengali film directed by Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy. This is a story about the prisoners of a correctional home ‒ Presidency jail who all have a dark past life but here they are being reformed day by day. 

Plot
Niharika Chatterjee is the wife of public prosecutor Arindam Chatterjee. Arindam is a dominating husband and a male chauvinist. Niharika is unhappy with her married life. They both have a sweet little child who is deaf and dumb. Niharika organises a party for girls who are physically challenged like her own daughter. There, she meets the new Inspector General of correctional cells of West Bengal, Mr. Brij Narayan Dutta. The latter informs Niharika of his plans and ideas of reforming convicts of the correctional cells. Being aware of Niharika's talent and skills, he requests Niharika to help him organize an event with the prisoners. Niharika agrees to the proposal with a condition that her husband needs to be kept in the dark. One day, while they were having a rehearsal, Niharika wishes to stage Rabindranath Tagore's Valmiki-Pratibha involving the inmates of the correctional cells. Niharika informs Mr. Brij Narayan Dutta about it, who likes the idea and approves the proposal. In the cellular jail, Yusuf Mohammad is a very well-known criminal. He is accused of murder, kidnapping, et al. Mr. Brij Narayan Dutta wants him to be in the play. He succeeds in convincing Yusuf Mohammad. It is he who later becomes Niharika's main protagonist in the stage play. Yusuf Mohammad gradually changes as Niharika keeps training them. They plan to escape from the correctional home on the day of the play. But, the feeling of guilt engulfs Yusuf Mohammad and though they get out of the correctional home through a tunnel, they return and complete the play.

Cast

 * Rituparna Sengupta as Niharika Chatterjee
 * Nigel Akkara as Yusuf Mohd Khan
 * Bratya Basu as Arindam Chatterjee
 * Debshankar Haldar as Brij Narayan Dutta
 * Kharaj Mukherjee as Lakhan Panda
 * Suchitra Chakraborty as Spriha
 * Shiboprosad Mukherjee as Happy Singh
 * Shambhunath Shaw as Nagen
 * Arjun Sharma as Firdous
 * Sarit Shekhar Banerjee as shyamal
 * Milan kundu as Babu

Crew

 * Banner: Progressive Films
 * Producers: Bachchu Biswas & Atanu Raychaudhuri
 * Directors: Nandita Roy & Shiboprosad Mukherjee
 * Story: Nandita Roy & Shiboprosad Mukherjee
 * Screenplay: Nandita Roy & Shiboprosad Mukherjee
 * Director of Photography: Anil Singh
 * Music Director: Joy Sarkar & Surojit Chatterjee
 * Choreographer: Alokananda Roy
 * Editor: Malay Laha
 * Production Designer: Nitish Roy
 * Art Director: Arup Ghosh & Tuntun
 * Stage Designers: Piyali-Saumik
 * Sound Designer: Anup Mukherjee
 * Costume Designer: Radhika Singhi

Direction
Nandita Roy is an Indian filmmaker, screenplay writer and producer. She has been working in the film industry for the past 30 years. She has worked in many television serials and National Award-winning films. Shiboprosad Mukherjee is an Indian filmmaker, actor and producer. He started his acting career by joining the Theatre in Education Project and was a regular theatre artiste at Nandikar. He learnt his art from celebrated thespians like Rudraprasad Sengupta and Ibrahim Alkazi. The director duo ventured into cinema in 2011, with their first film, Icche. From then on, they have co-directed films like Accident (2012), Muktodhara (2012), Alik Sukh (2013), Ramdhanu (2014), Belaseshe (2015), Praktan (2016) Posto (2017), Haami (2018), Konttho (2019), Gotro (2019), which have been critically acclaimed and commercially successful. Their films have been appreciated for their socially relevant content and entertaining narrative structure

Making
Nigel Akkara was a hardened criminal, who had resisted all attempts of reformation till a renowned dancer visited the Presidency Correctional Home and began a therapy session. He delivered a powerful performance in Muktodhara, a film loosely based on his life and transformation. Alokananda Ray decided to stage the dance drama, Valmiki Pratibha, by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. The actors were selected from among jailbirds and Nigel played the lead role of dacoit Ratnakar, who transforms into sage Valmiki. That play transformed Nigel in real life. It also helped in opening new avenues for him following his release from prison in 2009 after serving a nine-year term. “I was mesmerized by the acceptance that I got after Valmiki Pratibha. Sometimes, looking at my past, I have wondered whether I deserve such love and affection,” said Nigel, who now owns a cleaning and security agency and employs several former convicts. Nigel’s big break came when he got the chance to play the lead role opposite Rituparna Sengupta in Muktodhara.

Background
Culture therapy is a tiny streak of hope and positivity amidst the gloom that inmates find themselves in. The therapy, known to bring about a complete metamorphosis in the convicts and enable them to alter their lives, is the most crucial part of the film. Culture therapy was initially started by the then IPS BD Sharma in West Bengal. Dancer Alokananda Roy assisted him. They successfully instilled change in many convicts. Later, the court released the convicts on the grounds of goodwill and conduct. Muktodhara is the first film in the history of Indian cinema to be made on culture therapy.

Release
Muktodhara was released on 3 August 2012. The premiere of the movie was the first-ever theme premiere in Bengal. The entire movie hall was made to look like a correctional home and every artiste came in like a convict. The movie created history and was a huge hit; it set a new benchmark receiving an overwhelming response from the audience.