Kolkata, Nov 29 (IANS): Lives of a successful crime writer, his lovely wife, and a pub owner-cum-part time singer take unexpected twists, hurtling towards a dark end in the backdrop of the scenic northern West Bengal hills -- that in a nutshell is the riveting plot of a newly conceived Bengali film exploring love.
Journalist-turned-communication professional Arindam Basu is all set for his directorial debut with the dark love story "Arokto" (Crimson).
"The story magnifies what lies beneath the apparent placidity that surrounds the lives of the three protagonists. This movie is about the story behind the stories of the three characters," says Basu.
Pratapaditya Singha and his wife Resham travel to the hills on a vacation, during which he also plans to finish the climax of his new crime thriller.
There is a cold wall of indifference between the couple which they hope to heal in the mountains.
But as fate has it, there Resham meets Rahil -- the owner of a small pub where he is also a part-time singer. This chance meeting spirals out of control and the lives of the three are turned upside down.
Will Pratapaditya be able to redeem himself of his sins, Resham finds solace and Rahil gets a new meaning of life, is what the story is all about, says Basu.
The movie features Tota Roychowdhury as Rahil along with Orin from Bangladesh who plays Resham. Rohit Roy will be seen playing the author, Pratapaditya.
"I wrote the story almost four years back. Since then I have been working on it. But nothing is meant to happen before it happens. So here we are now.
"I am very happy with the cast. Tota and Rohit fit into their roles like gloves to hand and Orin brings a freshness and life that is so needed in this otherwise dark plot," says Basu.
Roy agreed to do the film as he found the character of Pratapaditya Singha challenging.
"It is a dark, challenging and convoluted character. Like every other actor I also love challenges. So I took little time to say 'yes'," says Roy.
Roychowdhury says he is eagerly looking forward to the movie as the character of Rahil has a lot of shades.
"After quite some time I have got a character which provides great scope for acting. There are a lot of situations which are challenging," he adds.
Savvy is doing the music while Dibyendu Mukherjee is working on the background score.
The movie is produced by Trina Films, who recently produced 'Abyakta'.
"Not many producers want to come and invest in movies that are off the beaten track and that too with new comers. But Tarun Das believes in the newness and fresh thoughts. It is a privilege to make a movie under this banner," Basu adds.
Shooting begins from mid-December in the charmed locales of north Bengal.