Synopsis

Dr. Sanjay Sen, a practising oncologist and an NRI, arrives in Kolkata to fulfil his long-standing dream of archiving the life of actor Soumitra Chattopadhyay, one of the stalwarts of the golden era of Bengali cinema and also the foremost cultural icon of Bengal, with the aim of making a film on him in the near future. At first, Soumitra Chattopadhyay turns him down for unknown reasons. But eventually he agrees and allows Sen to interview him from time to time on his life, experiences, philosophies and setbacks. In course of these interview sessions between Dr. Sen and Soumitra Chattopadhyay, different facets of the latter’s life and career are revealed to Dr. Sen as well as to the audience. Consequently, we take numerous trips down the memory lane of the icon, from his first film Apur Sansar with Satyajit Ray and the initial days of his glorious association with the maestro, to his prosperous career as a frontline hero of many successful Bengali films. We also come to know him for the human that he was, his political philosophies and beliefs, and how he fought for his truth. Eventually, later in his career, we see Chattopadhyay foraying into other walks of art as well, like poetry, theatre and painting. Thus, we get to see a consummate picture of the artiste that Soumitra Chattopadhyay, the legendary actor, poet and thespian, was. But what Dr. Sen takes back home at the end of his journey with Soumitra is not just the archival footage that he has gathered through this association but also a very deep sense of life and a renewed philosophy about existence itself. Consequently, Dr. Sen comes to terms with some pre-existing moral dilemmas that he himself suffered through in life and finds the closure that he was so desperately looking for.