Director Pallav Gupta had a long cherished dream to pay his tribute to celebrated women TV journalists on the big screen and the crime reporter in his film "Sesh Sangbad" has traces of all his favourite reporters.
Having been part of a production team of a national channel working on crime stories and political happenings in the national capital, Pallav now zeroes on the crime scene in rural Bengal in his Bengali film with actress Srabanti Chatterjee playing the role of the journalist.
"In a profession like journalism and channel reporting, at times girls are marching ahead of men in on-spot reporting besides keeping pace with them always. My crime reporter Srabanti Chatterjee has traces of all such women characters in her role," he said.
"But if you ask me personally I liked the Kargil adventure of Barkha Dutt the most and my principal character is largely modelled on her though the beats and circumstances are different. It is not a film based on the exploits of a certain individual."
The filmmaker said the movie is a statement on women empowerment.
"Girls are making their presence felt in media in an increasing way. And with the rise in incidents of crimes against women, it will be befitting to cast a woman crime reporter to bring the perpetrators to book," Pallav explained.
Srabanti, one of the most popular Bengali actresses, said she was inspired by Rani Mukerji for her portrayal of a journalist in "No One Killed Jessica".
"Films like 'No One Killed Jessica', 'Mardaani' showed
women not hesitating to fight back while facing physical torture. There is only one life and yes there are certain similar scenes in 'Sesh Sangbad', arguably the first such film in Bengal," Srabanti said.
Pointing out that women journalists have to cater to family needs as well as professional commitments without fail, Srabanti said, "I had often wished to portray their stress-full lives and here it comes in a more realistic form.
