Here are five such Bollywood movies that perfectly encapsulate Kolkata. Numerous Bollywood movies have written love letters to famous Indian towns over the years, using Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata as their backdrops, among others. Here are five examples of Bollywood movies that perfectly encapsulated Kolkata in their works.
Meri Pyaari Bindu
The City of Joy Kolkata serves as the setting for the 2017 love drama Meri Pyaari Bindu, starring Ayushmann Khurrana and Parineeti Chopra. One of Ayushmann Khurrana’s underappreciated movies, Meri Pyaari Bindu, features a traditional Kolkata “prem” (romance), and the duo exhibits the customary chemistry that is based on the competition between East Bengal and Mohunbagan, among other things, the fuchka (golgappe), and the hand-pulled rickshaw.
Kahaani
Durga Pujo is a key character in the climax of the 2012 Hindi thriller film Kahaani. Vidya Balan plays the lead in the movie. The festival serves as a metaphor as well as the setting for a crucial scene. Sujoy Ghosh’s camera allows us to watch Kolkata prepare for Durga Pujo throughout the entire movie, and the movie’s finale takes place on Vijay Dashami (the last day of Durga Pujo).
Barfi
The film, which takes place in the 1970s in Darjeeling and Kolkata, tells the story of Murphy Johnson, also known as “Barfi,” a little deaf and a mute kid who befriends Shruti Ghosh (Ileana D’Cruz), a new girl in Darjeeling. There is a scene where the two, along with Barfi’s autistic friend Jhilmil Chatterjee (played by Priyanka Chopra), ride a tram in Kolkata when Shruti re-enters Barfi’s life six years later and renews their friendship. This scene, which includes glimpses of the streets of North Kolkata, Ganga ghats, and trams, is interspersed with the song “Phir Le Aaya Dil,” which brilliantly encapsulates the spirit of Kolkata. Where to watch: Netflix
Piku
Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, and Irrfan Khan are the main actors in the comedy-drama Piku, which was directed by Shoojit Sircar. Also playing important roles are Moushumi Chatterjee and Jisshu Sengupta. The movie transports you to an early morning in Kolkata, with people delivering papers, drinking tea from earthen pots, eating kochuri (kachauri) with potato stew, and catching vistas of the Ganga ghats and the historic North Kolkata neighbourhoods. Where to watch: SonyLIV
Parineeta
Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan, and Sanjay Dutt star in the 2005 Hindi film Parineeta, which is another adaptation of the same-named novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. With a focus on Bengali culture and a sequence featuring Dutt doing the well-known dhunuchi dance, this Kolkata-set Pradeep Sarkar film goes deep into ethnicity. Balan also makes an appearance wearing an iconic red-border white saree. Where to watch: Netflix
