Churni Ganguly

Churni Ganguly (Bengali: চূর্ণী গাঙ্গুলী or Churni Gangopadhyay, born as Churni Banerjee or Churni Bandopadhyay) is a Bengali film and television actress.

Churni Ganguly
Born
Churni Banerjee

Kurseong, India
OccupationActress
Years active2004–present
Spouse(s)Kaushik Ganguly
ChildrenUjaan Ganguly (son)
RelativesSunil Ganguly (father in law)

After spending her childhood in Kurseong, she came to Kolkata and got admitted at the Jadavpur University. While studying at Jadavpur University, she joined a theatre group as an actress. Then she moved to Mumbai and acted in a few television serials. Later, she came back to Kolkata and started acting in Bengali films.

Ganguly received the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards in 2005 in the best actress category for the movie Waarish, in which she played a single-mother's role.[1]

Personal life

Churni Ganguly (born Churni Banerjee) spent her childhood in Kurseong. Her parents were school teachers. She was a student of Dow Hills boarding school. In spite of being at boarding school, Churni and few other girls were allowed to stay at their homes with their parents. Churni's father, whom Churni described as "extremely caring, but a rather serious person" encouraged Churni to do well in studies, and especially sports. But, Churni did not feel the urge to concentrate on sports. Churni was a good student at school, but she never thought that she had to secure rankings in examinations.[2]

Churni was a student of Jadavpur University. While at university, in 1987, she started a theatre troupe with Suman Mukhopadhyay and her future husband Kaushik Ganguly.[3] Churni is married to Bengali film director Kaushik Ganguly and has a son – Ujaan Ganguly.[4]

Career in Mumbai

Firstly, she tried her luck in the Hindi film and television industry. She shifted to Mumbai and acted in Zee TV's first daily soap, Raahat and stayed there for the next two years. In those days, when she was in her twenties, she acted in Choti si Asha, in which she played a 35-year-old mother's character who matured to about 60.[5] Later she decided to come back to Kolkata.[6]

Career in Bengali film industry

After moving to Kolkata, Churni decided to join the Bengali film industry.[6]

2004—2005

In 2004, Ganguly made her debut in Bengali cinema with the film Waarish. The film was directed by Kaushik Ganguly. In the film, she played the role of a single mother— Medha. Medha was an ex-flame of Subhankar, who became pregnant after a rendezvous with him. Though Medha was not married with Subhankar, she denied abortion and gave birth to a son, Megh. Many years later, when she learns that she is suffering from cancer, she goes to Subhankar, (who was married to another woman at that time) and asks to take responsibility of Megh. Though the acting of Ganguly in this film was widely appreciated, it did not get commercial success.[7]

In 2005, Ganguly acted in the film Shunyo E Buke, directed by Kaushik Ganguly. In this film, she portrayed a flat-chested woman's role[8] and the film attempted to explore male sexual fantasy.[9]

2007—2010

In 2007, Ganguly acted in Jara Bristite Bhijechhilo, directed by Anjan Das.[10] The film revolved around lesbian relationships.[11]

In 2008, Ganguly acted in Anjan Dutt's Chalo Let's Go. This was Ganguly's first feature film in which she acted under the direction of someone other than Kaushik Ganguly. The film was a travelogue and narrated a story of a journey with nine passengers. Ganguly played the character of Miss Ganguly, a sophisticated writer. But in the film, her fellow passengers used to call her "Miss Gombhir".[12]

In 2009, Ganguly acted in Sakaler Rang, directed by Suvamoy Chattopadhyay. The budget of the film was ₹900,000 (US$13,000).[13]

In the 2010 film Arekti Premer Golpo, Ganguly played the character of Rani/Gopa. In this film, Rituparno Ghosh and Indraneil Sengupta acted in lead roles and the film revolved around a homosexual relationship.[14]

2011—present
My character Kamalini has a lot of attitude and is always in charge. I am more laid-back. Our spouses are freelancers, that's one similarity... so we've both had to work on certain projects just to run the show. We're both disarmingly truthful. And we're both vulnerable... but then, who isn't?

Churni Ganguly
on her character Kamalini of Rang Milanti[15]

In 2011, Ganguly acted in Rang Milanti, another film directed by Kaushik Ganguly. In this film, she played the role of Kamalini, a successful Television actor.[9] In the same year, Ganguly acted in Ribhu Dasgupta's directorial debut film Michael. In this film, Ganguly played the role of Ria, Naseerudin Shah's wife. Michael was produced by Anurag Kashyap.[16]

In 2012, Ganguly acted in two Bengali movies— Laptop, directed by Kaushik Ganguly and Arjun – Kalimpong E Sitaharan, directed by Prem Modi. The film Laptop told some stories related to some different people, connected by one single laptop. On the other hand, Arjun – Kalimpong E Sitaharan was a detective film based on Samaresh Majumdar's literary character Arjun.[17]

The 2013 film Shabdo, directed by Kaushik Ganguly, was widely appreciated by critics. The story of the film revolved around Tarak, a foley artist of Bengali film industry. In this film, Ganguly played a psychriatist's role.[18]

Ganguly signed Kaushik Ganguly's C/O Sir for the role of Mrs Chatterjee. Later, as she was having problem with dates, she was replaced by another actress Sudipta Chakraborty.[19]

She also acted in Bakita Byaktigato, directed by Pradipta Bhattacharya. This film shot like a documentary, the film traces a man's quest for love as per critics review. Pramit, an amateur documentary filmmaker, is tired of girls rejecting his propositions. Prem ki? Ki kore prem hoye? Troubled by such questions, he takes it upon himself to solve the puzzle anyhow. And this time around, he plans to make a documentary film on love.[20]

Actor Churni Ganguly debuts as a director in Nirbashito, a bilingual film in Bengali and English, shot in Kolkata and Sweden. After many snuffed-out attempts by several filmmakers, for the first time a film on Taslima Nasrin's life was released at the ongoing Mumbai International Film Festival. The film — Nirbashito (Banished) — is inspired by Taslima and her cat, Minu.

In the film directed by Churni Ganguly, Minu is called Baghini (tigress). The author is, however, not named anywhere in the film.[21] This film won the Best Bengali film award and the sound designer trophy at the 62nd National Film Awards category.[22]

Bengali television career

Other than working in few Hindi serials such as Raahat, Umeed etc., Ganguly has worked in Bengali television serials too such as @Bhalobasha.com, which was directed by Monish Ghosh and produced by Snehasish Chakraborty; Hridayer Chorabali etc.[23] She has acted in Bengali telefilms too. The telefilm Bandhobi was about two college friends (girls) who meet after a long time and remember those days when both of them fell in love with the same man. Bandhobi was directed by Kaushik Ganguly and Chandrayee Ghosh played Ganguly's friend's role. The telefilm Promotion dealt with single parenthood and it was shot in Darjeeling.[4]

Filmography
YearFilmDirectorRole/CharacterCo actors
2004WaarishKaushik GangulyMedhaSabyasachi Chakrabarty, Debashree Roy
2005Shunyo E BukeKaushik GangulyArtist's wifeKaushik Sen, Kharaj Mukherjee
2007Jara Bristite BhijechhiloAnjan DasIndrani Halder, Sudip Mukherjee
2008Chalo Let's GoAnjan DuttMiss GombhirRudranil Ghosh, Saswata Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee
2009Sakaler RangSuvamoy ChattopadhyayBhabiTaranga Sarkar, Chhabi Talukdar, Paulomi De, Monu Mukhopadhyay
2010Arekti Premer GolpoKaushik GangulyRani / GopaRituparno Ghosh, Indraneil Sengupta, Raima Sen
2011Rang MilantiKaushik GangulyKamalika's elder sisterSaswata Chatterjee, Ridhima Ghosh, Gaurav Chatterjee, Gaurav Chakraborty, Tanaji Dasgupta, Indrasheesh Ray
MichaelRibhu DasguptaNaseeruddin Shah, Mahie Gill, Purav Bhandare
2012LaptopKaushik GangulyMrs. Durba MukherjeeRahul Bose, Saswata Chatterjee, Ananya Chatterjee, Gaurav Chakrabarty
2013Arjun – Kalimpong E Sitaharan[24]Prem ModiNilam, Sita's governessDipankar De, Om (actor)
Shabdo[25]Kaushik GangulyRaima Sen, Victor Banerjee, Ritwick Chakraborty
Bakita Byaktigato[20]Pradipta BhattacharyaRitwick Chakraborty, Aparajita Ghosh Das, Madhabi Mukherjee, Debesh Roy Choudhury, Supriyo Dutta, Monu Mukherjee, Sudipa Basu, Amit Saha and Kaushik Roy
2014Nirbashito[26]Churni GangulyChurni Ganguly, Saswata Chatterjee, Raima Sen, Lars Bethke, Lia Boysen, Martin Wallstrom, Joakim Granberg & others
2017Chaya O ChobiKaushik GangulyMayaAbir Chatterjee, Koyel Mallick, Priyanka Sarkar
2018HaamiNandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee
2019TarikhChurni GangulyRitwick Chakraborty, Saswata Chatterjee, Raima Sen, Kaushik Ganguly

Direction

Telefilms
  • Roop directed by Ashok Vishwanathan.[6]
  • Ushno-tar Jonyo (2010)[27]
  • A...tithi[28]
  • Bhalobashar Kotha (directed by Anjan Dutt)
  • Chhoti Si Asha[29]
  • Bandhobi: (2010) The telefim was about two college friends (roles played by Churni Ganguly and Chandreyi Ghosh).[4]
  • Ambor Sen Antardhan Rahasya (1999) as Churni Chatterjee .
  • Promotion: This telefilm was entirely shot in Darjeeling and dealt with single parenthood.[4]
  • Shesh Kriya (1984)[30]

TV serials

Awards
gollark: Weren't they being changed to be more varied
gollark: How come the raffle challenges now seem to always be just "raise 3 bred adult dragons"?
gollark: Oh no. I almost have more unnamed dragons than named ones now.
gollark: My arbitrarily messy lineage project is up to 43 generations, but I forgot the ones I was looking at using next.
gollark: Weird question, but does anyone know how I can find the longest-lineage dragons in my scroll conveniently?

References
  1. "BFJA Award 2005". Gomolo. Archived from the original on 29 April 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  2. "My Fundays Churni Ganguly". Calcutta, India: The Telegraph Calcutta. 4 July 2007. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  3. "Kaushik Ganguly profile". kolkatabengalinfo.com/. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  4. Nag, Kushali (1 June 2010). "Reverse swing". The Daily Telegraph. Calcutta, India. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  5. Ganguly, Churni; More, Much (8 September 2011). "I'm there, ticking and alive'". Calcutta, India: The Telegraph Calcutta. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  6. Up, Growing (27 June 2010). "Aiming high". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  7. "Highs and lows in topsy-turvy Tollywood". The Telegraph. Kolkota. 29 December 2004. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  8. "Do bigger breasts mean better self-esteem?". CNN-IBN. 8 April 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  9. "Colours of life". The Telegraph. Kolkota. 5 August 2004. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  10. "Just walking in the rain..." The Telegraph. Kolkota. 26 October 2006. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  11. "Change the mindset". The Telegraph. Kolkota. 4 July 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  12. "14 fellow travellers". The Telegraph. Kolkota. 31 May 2008. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  13. "Sakaler Rang details". Gomolo. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  14. "We have treated it like a heterosexual love story". The Indian Express. 15 January 2011. Archived from the original on 10 February 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  15. "I'm there, ticking and alive'". The Daily Telegraph. 8 September 2011.
  16. "Churni, Mir in Michael". The Telegraph. Kolkota. 24 August 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  17. "Arjun, Kalimponge Sitahoron". The Times of India. 9 May 2013. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  18. "Dubai Review: Kaushik Ganguly's "Shobdo" (Sound)". Dear Cinema. Archived from the original on 4 June 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  19. "Sudipta replaces Churni in Kaushik Ganguly's next". The Times of India. 24 September 2012. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  20. "Bakita Byaktigoto Movie Review". The Times of India. 22 September 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  21. "A slice of Taslima's life captured on screen". The Times of India. 21 October 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  22. NDTV Movies
  23. "Bhalobasa.com Star Jalsa Songs, Cast". Bhalobasa.in. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  24. "Enter, genx sleuth Arjun". The Daily Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 16 April 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  25. "Tollywood Shabdo". The Daily Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 23 December 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  26. "Churni, Kaushik Ganguly first couple to win National Award". The Times of India. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  27. Sengupta, Reshmi (18 December 2010). "Man, woman & another man". Calcutta, India: The Telegraph, Kolkata. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  28. "Excellent Bengali Telefilm_A...tithi". Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  29. "Churni Ganguly on Bengali movie 'Rangmilanti', Koushik Ganguly, co-actors". Calcutta Tube. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  30. "Interview | Angana Basu". WBRi. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  31. "List of Kalakar award winners" (PDF). Kalakar awards. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  32. "Sudden emptiness after national award". Retrieved 12 August 2015.
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