Pritha Chakraborty on ‘Paharganj Halt’ shooting controversy: Nobody even cross-checked the facts, there was huge crowd gathered for the shoot and they all looked happy – Times of India

Pritha Chakraborty is upset about the way her upcoming film ‘Paharganj Halt’ has been dragged into an unnecessary controversy and she’s shocked to see nobody even cross-checked before spreading rumours. It all started when the name of Banpas, a station in the burdwan-Rampurhat line of Eastern Rail, was temporary changed to ‘Paharganj Halt’ due to the shooting of Ritwick Chakraborty and Paoli Dam’s upcoming film ‘Paharganj Halt’. A temporary sticker of ‘Paharganj Halt’ was seen in place of Banpas and several media reports surfaced claiming that locals are complaining about the inconvenience being caused due to this. With things escalating the Railway officers had no other choice but to stop the shooting in the station premises and change it back to the original station name.

The incident left Pritha and her team in an embarrassing situation with no clue about how they will manage everything.

When contacted over the phone, Pritha Chakraborty told ETimes how shocked she was to see such an unnecessary controversy. “I was surprised to see people didn’t even cross check before spreading rumours. I can assure you the locals were pretty much happy to see a film being shot in their locality. Many gathered to catch a glimpse of Ritwick Chakraborty and Paoli Dam. Nobody complained about the station name being changed. And let me tell you the name wasn’t changed. It’s just a sticker for the time being and we took all the necessary permission from railways authority.”

She further added, “We started the shooting smoothly and then this unnecessary controversy was created. People have to understand we have to take precautions so that the looks of the actors not get revealed. This is a basic thing. And I was shocked to see Ritwick da and Paoli di’s names being dragged into the controversy. They are actors. How can they be involved in this? We were shooting with a 170-people team and to manage everything there is a lot of hard work. If shooting gets hampered because of an unnecessary controversy then it’s a huge loss for the production team and also the locals involved. I spoke to some of the shops there and there were really happy to see such a huge crowd gathered to see the shooting, after all it their sell increased manifold. Even a little girl gifted me a beautiful drawing on the spot where you can see Paharganj’s name mentioned.”

Speaking about the shooting experience, the young director shared, “Baring this controversy, we had a great time shooting in such a beautiful virgin place near Bolpur. You can imagine my excitement. After all I am working with Paoli and Ritwick, two acting powerhouse. And then there’s Shyamal da. We have mostly completed the Bolpur schedule. Only a few patches are left. Next we will shoot a small portion in Kolkata.”

Meanwhile, Railway authorities have said that to handle the situation during the three-day (28^th to 30^th March) shooting schedule the local trains were even stopping for a few extra minutes for the sake of the passengers.

‘Paharganj Halt’ is Pritha Chakraborty’s second film after her critically acclaimed film ‘Mukherjee Dar Bou’. Though tight lipped about the story Pritha who has also penned the story says, “As a filmmaker, I have always tried to explore the multiple layers of human relations and experiences. The way Mukherjee Dar Bou talked about the less explored side of a mother and daughter-in-law’s relation; Paharganj Halt will also showcase the extraordinary layers of human experience of very ordinary characters.”