Emperor vs Sarat Chandra
Upcoming film by Srijit Mukherji
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Emperor vs Sarat Chandra is an upcoming Bengali-language epic historical drama film written and directed by Srijit Mukherji, who also makes his debut as a film music album composer in the film.[1] Produced by Pradip Kumar Nandy under the banner of Nandy Movies, initially scheduled for release on May 1, 2026, it is now set for a release in October, 2026, on the occasion of Durga Puja.[2] It is based on Pather Dabi, a 1926 novel (novella) written by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, the subsequent ban on the book and a correspondence between Chattopadhyay and Rabindranath Tagore.[3] A 59-second teaser of the film was released on June 3, 2026 by its makers.[4]
| Emperor vs Sarat Chandra | |
|---|---|
Official poster released on 21 April 2026 | |
| Directed by | Srijit Mukherji |
| Screenplay by | Srijit Mukherji |
| Story by | Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay |
| Based on | Pather Dabi by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay |
| Produced by | Pradip Kumar Nandy |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | Tota Roy Chowdhury |
| Music by | Srijit Mukherji |
Production company | Nandy Movies |
| Distributed by | PVR Inox Pictures |
Release date |
|
| Country | India |
| Language | Bengali |
On its first announcement, Dag Creative Media and Shree Venkatesh films were its producers. The cast given by Mukherjee was Sohini Sarkar, Abir Chatterjee, Tota Roy Choudhury, Rudranil Ghosh in lead roles. By new rules implemented by the film committee (IMPFA-Federation), Media and SVF dropped out, conflicting release dates of their films. Pradip Kumar Nandy, owner of Nandy Movies, became the producing house. Mimi Chakraborty replaced Sarkar by Nandy Movies and Buddhadev Das replaced Ghosh with prior discussion between Mukherji and Ghosh. Start of the shooting was delayed from November to January.
Premise
Pather Dabi was published by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay in August 1926, centering the British Raj as its story. In January 1927, the novel was banned by the British colonial government (British Raj) for its revolutionary theme and for openly challenging the government.[5] Within a week, it sold out all its available copies. In 1938, Chattopadhyay died of liver cancer. The next year in 1939, the ban was lifted by the government.[6]
Cast
- Abir Chatterjee[5] as Sabyasachi Mallick
- Tota Roy Choudhury[5] as Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
- Richard Bhakti Klein as Charles Tegart
- Mimi Chakraborty
- Buddhadev Das
- Divyani Mondal[5]
- Kanchan Mallick[5]
- Rick Chattopadhyay
Soundtrack
The film's music is set to be composed by Srijit Mukherji, which is his first time as a music director for a film. The soundtrack of the film along with background music are set to be put to music by him according to his own imagination.[7][8] There are four songs set in Emperor vs Sarat Chandra, one written by Mukherji, one written by Srijato and the other two songs' lyricists are unknown.
Production
Development and pre-production
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Srijit Mukherjee announced the film by posting on Twitter on the morning of 31 August 2025. He stated the film to be a period drama set in 1926, the pre-Indian independence era. He said the title of the film to be inspired from the British Indian court case about the bombing in Alipore, Emperor v. Aurobindo Ghosh.[9] Mukherji said the production to originally begin from November 2025. Among the appearances from the period depicted, Rabindranath Thakur and Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das are to appear.[10] Mukherji stated the cast to appear in the film on 17 September; he did not reveal the roles of the actors in the first few days.[11]
Upon the first announcement of the film, Srijit Mukherji said that Tota Roychowdhury, Abir Chatterjee and Sohini Sarkar would be playing the lead roles,[12] with the production houses Dag Creative Media and Shree Venkatesh Films.[3][13] With effect on the Tollywood film industry, IMPFA-Federation gave out new rules that a production house will not be able to release two films at the same to avoid conflicting the release dates of films by production houses. Production companies Dag Creative Media and Shree Venkatesh Films had a release date of May for their other separate films.[14] In November 2025, Nandy Movies replaced Dag Creative Media as the production house. Shree Venkatesh Films left the project for their role of producing the film.[15]
The new film poster with Nandy Movies was released on 27 November 2025.[15] Pather Dabi was adapted as a film in 1977, called Sabyasachi, starring Uttam Kumar. During the announcement of Emperor vs Sarat Chandra, Mukhherji's upcoming film Lawho Gouranger Naam Re was being shot, scheduled for release during Christmas.[16] With a new release set for Durga Puja 2026, Emperor vs Sarat Chandra is said to show the evolution of Chattopadhyay from writing his greatest works such as Parineeta and Devdas besides the plot of Pather Dabi. It is also said to include resistance of Sarat Chandra against the ban, his appeal to Rabindranath Tagore and societal debates.[17] In response to a query why Mukherji picked Sarat Chandra to other writers, remarked "At that time, not only in Bengal, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay was the most popular writer in whole of India. He managed to reach every house of Bengal. Famous dramas, pictures, movies are being adapted from his works, and his novels are being translated into English and published under Oxford University Press. Even by sitting at the peak of his popularity and success, the way he had the bravery to still oppose the British Empire and build resistance against it is very inspiring."[18]
A teaser for the film lasting 59-seconds was released on June 3, 2026, a Wednesday. In the teaser, Abir Chatterjee was revealed to be playing the role of Sabyasachi Mallick, protagonist of the novel and a revolutionary. He appeared in the teaser dressed in a white shirt, coat, and a hat, holding pistols in both hands suggesting ambidexterity.[19] Tota Roy Chowdhury makes an appearance in the film as Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, shown sitting at a desk in a rainy atmosphere, wearing a traditional dhoti and punjabi.[20][21]
Casting
Nandy Movies implemented a change in the film cast. Mimi Chakraborty replaced Sohini Sarkar.[22] After a discussion with Mukherji and Rudranil Ghosh, they agreed to have Buddhadev Das replace Ghosh, who Mukherji remarked fit the subject's look more.[23] Rick Chattopadhyay replaced Satyam Bhattacharya.[24] Bhattacharya acted in the shooting of Vijaynagar'er Hirey. Pre-production work was started in November 2025. Mukherji changed the film's shooting to start from January 2026.[25] He stated to be four total songs in the film, with two of them being Rabindra Sangeet, one song being written by Srijit Mukherji and another song by Srijato.[26]
This film is especially close to my heart as it
marks my debut as a music composer.
In 2025, Srijit Mukherji released the films Shotyi Bole Shotyi Kichhu Nei and Killbill Society.[27] In accordance with particular styles and relations with his films, he commented "Nothing of the kind is happening. I am basically making a film about the period of writing of Pather Daabi, the Bengali of that time, the events and personalities."[28] He stated the film to be an "examination of ideology and resistance against oppression." He is to appear as a composer for all of the songs in the film.[29] He announced the film celebrating the 100th anniversary of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel Pather Dabi.[30] As of 11 January, the shooting had started. According to ETV Bharat, Abir Chatterjee is playing the role of Sabyasachi. He commented on the shooting, "I think this is a very important film. Because it talks about history and the people it talks about are not only our predecessors, they are also legends. [...] I will tell the rest when the shooting is over." Tota Roy Choudhury is playing the role of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. The other roles by the human cast actors are confirmed but not all the specific roles are given.[31]
Divyani Mondal said about the film after her role had been confirmed, "I cannot express this feeling in words. This is a great debt to me. This is my first time working in the big cinema industry with Srijit sir. The actors I am going to work with are also such talented artists. This is a dream fulfillment to me. Mondal did not reveal her role in the film.[32]
While speaking about the background and story behind his film, Mukherji commented that one day after the subject of the film had been finalized, he called Tota Roy Chowdhury. After Chowdhury picked up his phone, Mukherji said to him that his appearance looked a lot like Sarat Chandra. Chowdhury was surprised to hear this.[33] Mukherji said to Chowdhury that he would be the storyteller in his film. Makeup artist Somnath Kundu applied a transformation to Chowdhury to have him resemble Sarat Chandra.[34]
