Filmmaker-cum-actor Anjan Dutt, known for his critically-acclaimed films Bow Barracks Forever and Chalo Let’s Go will direct the film in which Bollywood actor Sarika is expected to play the leading role. “The story is a true incident. I was approached by a man in his 40’s who wanted me to help his wife who he claimed had certain aberrations around a certain beautiful sculpted doll that appears to have supernatural powers,” said Chakraverti.
The author says she has worked with Anjan in expanding and adapting the story into the film script. While the original was set in an upscale Kolkata city, a colonial bungalow in Darjeeling’s misty hills would most possibly be the location for the film. “I do not see this being made by a Ram Gopal Varma or Mahesh Bhatt. Horror does not necessarily have a loud voice but can also come in a whisper,” says the leading witchcraft practioner.
Set for release post the Durga Puja, the film, says Chakraverti, is more in the genre of Hollywood horror flicks such as Psycho and What Lies Beneath and have plenty of commercial appeal especially among women and youngsters. Another supernatural film Sacred Evil based on the book’s title story directed by Abhigyan Jha also starring Sarika was released in 2006.
“This film is about love, marriage and aberrations. It has three layers – a pscyhological, social and the paranormal. It attempts to show how women in the 21st century are caught in the time wrap and have become obsessed with youth and beauty,” says the author.