Canned for three years, 'Mayabazar' finally releases on June 1

Those involved in the project believe Bengali art-house cinema finds greater audience acceptance now compared to the picture three years back when the film featuring Dhritiman Chatterjee and Rupa Ganguly was made.

"At that time it could be called a path breaking film, but now it's a contemporary movie not aiming for the niche segment only," Chatterjee, a Satyajit Ray favourite and a known face in present day Bollywood films, told PTI.

Showering praises on the young director Joydeep Ghosh, who has stitched three stories -- Smriti, Satva and Bhabisyat to make 'Mayabazar', a place of illusions, Chatterjee said "Definitely when it was conceived, it was ahead of its time for its content."

Actress Rupa Ganguly said, "This is a new phase for serious Bengali films when more and more people are watching this type of films."

Ganguly, who essayed the role of Kuhu in Smriti, said "Some time back films of Goutam Ghosh or Rina-di (Aparna Sen) were seen by a select audience.

"And after Rituparno Ghosh first changed the cinegoing habit, with his delicately nuanced stories, it was the turn of directors like Srijit (Mukherjee), Kamaleswar Mukherjee, Atanu (Ghosh), Kaushik (Ganguly) to bring more audience into theatres," Ganguly said. MORE