ABOUT

This is the first documentary film on the history of Bangla Kalpavigyan and on Indian Science Fiction. But what is Bangla Kalpavigyan? Is there such a thing as Bangla Science Fiction? Is there such a thing as Indian SF?

This is our journey with the genre, captured and presented like never before in film.

Beginning with the early work of writers such as Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain (Begum Rokeya) and the speculative mode in Bengal, and ending with the pioneering webzine Kalpabiswa, the film traces the historical arc of Kalpavigyan over a century of the genre. The principal focus of the film are the genre magazines of the 1960s-80s published in Kolkata and the writers and editors who ignited the movement by giving it shape and form through these magazines. The film is built around a series of conversations with these writers and their successors, and also features critical reflections from researchers and scholars who have worked with the genre both in relation to Bengal and Kalpavigyan as well as the wider phenomenon of SF.

The figure of Adrish Bardhan, the editor of the first Bangla SF magazine, ‘Aschorjo’, looms large over the film, as do major writers such as Satyajit Ray, Premendra Mitra, and Leela Majumdar. The film dives into the particularities of editorial decisions, political concerns, and personal histories that made the magic of Kalpavigyan happen amidst often bleak publishing realities and poverty. But it also sheds warm light on the ultimately liberating strain of speculative utopianism that shapes and continues to shape the genre as an ongoing discussion between fans, critics, and writers.

The film will be of interest to all fans and scholars of Kalpavigyan and SF.

Featuring (in order of appearence): 
Adrish Bardhan
Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay
Enakshi Chattopadhyay
Anindya Sengupta
Riju Ganguly
Sumit Bardhan
Barnita Bagchi
Anwesha Maity
Abhijit Gupta
Sandip Ray
Moumita Sen 
Team KALPABISWA
Anish Deb
Ranen Ghosh 
Amitananda Das
Abhijnan Roychowdhury

Special Appearance
Samit Basu
Sukanya Datta
Sami Ahmad Khan
Salik Shah
Mimi Mondal

Enactment
J. K. Chattopadhyay
Saswati Chattopadhyay
Sweta Ghosh
Debraj Naiya

Kalpabiswa
Ankita
Santu Bag
Prasenjit Dasgupta
Biswadip Dey
Sandipan Chattopadhyay
Sandipan Ganguly
Dip Ghosh
Soham Guha

Produced by: Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay
Directed by: Arunava Gangopadhyay
Research by: Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay
Scripted by: Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay & Arunava Gangopadhyay

PRODUCTION
2018-21
RELEASE YEAR
2021
RUNNING TIME
82 mins
TYPE
Documentary
LANGUAGE
Bangla with multiple language subtitles