Soukarya Ghosal (; born 7 June 1986) is an Indian filmmaker, director, screenwriter, illustrator and music composer. He is widely considered for his work in Rainbow Jelly, a food fantasy film for the children in Bengali Cinema. His film Bhootpori starring

Jaya Ahsan Jaya Maswood (born 1 July), popularly known as Jaya Ahsan, is a Bangladeshi film actress, model, producer and playback singer. Starting her career as a model and, later, as a film actress, she works mostly in Bangladeshi and Indian Bengali fil ...

, was an official selection for Indian Panorama at

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is an annual film festival currently held in Goa, on the western coast of India. The festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excel ...

, Goa which also received the Best Screenplay award at 14 Dadasaheb Phalke Film Festival in 2024. His first feature film

Pendulum A pendulum is a device made of a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate i ...

bagged three awards in the 4th Radio Mirchi Music Awards Bangla in 2014. Ghosal made His second film ''Load Shedding'' in 2015 which he wrote and directed for Zee Bangla Cinema Originals, was a

teenage Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with ...

love story set in the 90's. His film Rainbow Jelly, a food fantasy film about an autistic orphan received Hiralal Sen Award and

Rituparno Ghosh Rituparno Ghosh (; 31 August 1963 – 30 May 2013) was an Indian film director, actor, writer and lyricist. After pursuing a degree in economics, he started his career as a creative artist at an advertising agency. He received recognition for h ...

Memorial Award for Most Promising Director from West Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards. His upcoming films are ''OCD'' and ''Kalantar''.

Early life

Ghosal was born and brought up in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. He attended A. K. Ghosh Memorial School and Jodhpur Park Boys School, and graduated in History from Asutosh College. He did a postgraduate course in

Media Studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but it mos ...

from

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

. His admiration for

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...

's illustrations in ''Sandesh'' magazine was a guiding force in his desire to become a professional illustrator.

Career

In 2011, he joined ''Robbar'' the

Sunday magazine A Sunday magazine is a publication inserted into a Sunday newspaper. It also has been known as a Sunday supplement (publishing), supplement, Sunday newspaper magazine or Sunday magazine section. Traditionally, the articles in these magazines cover ...

of ''

Sangbad Pratidin Sangbad Pratidin () is a daily Indian Bengali language, Bengali newspaper simultaneously published from Kolkata, Barjora and Siliguri. It was founded by Swapan Sadhan Bose, on 9 August 1992. The Editor-in-Chief is Srinjoy Bose. Content Beside ...

'' as a staff cartoonist and Illustrator. While working on comic series such as ''

Tenida Bhajahari Mukhujjee (Bengali: ভজহরি মুখার্জী), commonly known as Tenida (Bengali language, Bengali: টেনিদা) or Teni (see Tenida#Tenida, Tenida for ''da''), is a fictional native of Potoldanga in Calcutta, ...

'' in ''Sandesh'' and Tenali Rama in ''Kishore Bharati'', he felt a strong urge for sound and motion in his art. This led him to quit his job and pursue films. Coming directly from the field of art, Ghosal made his first film, ''

'' based on a surrealist painter who could physically take people into the space he drew. It took him a year to find a producer for the film.

2014–2015

On 7 March 2014, his debut film ''

'', based on

magic realism Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a style or genre of fiction and art that presents a realistic view of the world while incorporating magical elements, often blurring the lines between speculation and reality. ''Magical re ...

time travel Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...

was released in West Bengal. This hyperlink film featured

Radhika Apte Radhika Apte () (born 7 September 1985) is an Indian film and television actress. She began acting in theatre and made her film debut with a brief role in the fantasy drama ''Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi!'' (2005). Her first lead role was in the 2009 ...

, Rajesh Sharma, Sreelekha Mitra, Rajatabha Dutta, Subhasish Mukherjee, Shantilal Mukherjee, Samadarshi Dutta and Anindiya Banerjee, and was produced by Cozum Analytics Ltd. In 2015, he made his second film, ''

Load Shedding Load shedding (LS) is a protective method of emergency power control where, during a large disbalance between supply and demand, the demand (load) is intentionally disconnected ("shed") so that the available electricity supply within a safe timefr ...

'', for television. A teenage love story set in the 90s, it starred

Riddhi Sen Riddhi Sen is an Indian film actor who predominantly works in Bengali films along with a few Hindi films. He is the youngest actor in India to receive the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film ''Nagarkirtan''. He i ...

, Meghla Dasgupta, Bidipta Chakraborty, Saili Bhattacharya and Joydeep Kundu, and was produced by Nideas Creations.

2016–2018

In 2016, he adapted the story of Taranath Tantrik by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay to rewrite for a television series for

Colors Bangla Colors Bangla (previously known as ETV Bangla) is an Indian general entertainment pay television channel broadcasting in Bengali language owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. It primarily telecasts programs su ...

. That year, he worked as the second unit director in Srijit Mukherji's ''Zulfiqar'', produced by

Shree Venkatesh Films SVF Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. is an Indian film production and distribution company, founded by Shrikant Mohta and Mahendra Soni in 1995. Apart from producing and distributing Bengali films in West Bengal, Bangladesh, Assam and Tripura, SVF a ...

. Inspired by the literary world of Leela Majumdar in 2017, his film production company Indigenous produced '' Rainbow Jelly'', a food fantasy in Bengali starring Mahabrata Basu, Anumegha Banerjee, Kaushik Sen, Sreelekha Mitra, Shantilal Mukherjee etc.. The film was based on an autistic orphan child who could control the human mind by cooking food with several tastes. The film depicted the gradual changes in the villain's mind and his seven different reactions as he encountered different kinds of tastes:

sweet Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones, ...

sour The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste. Taste is the perception stimulated when a substance in the mouth biochemistry, reacts chemically with taste receptor cells l ...

, salty,

spicy Pungency ( ) is the taste of food commonly referred to as spiciness, hotness or heat, found in foods such as chili peppers. Highly pungent tastes may be experienced as unpleasant. The term piquancy ( ) is sometimes applied to foods with a lower ...

pungent Pungency ( ) is the taste of food commonly referred to as spiciness, hotness or heat, found in foods such as chili peppers. Highly pungent tastes may be experienced as unpleasant. The term piquancy ( ) is sometimes applied to foods with a lower ...

astringent An astringent (sometimes called adstringent) is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin '' adstringere'', which means "to bind fast". Astringency, the dry, puckering or numbing mouthfeel caused by t ...

and bitter. Rainbow Jelly film got released in

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

on 25 May 2018 & got premiered in London &

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

. The film received Hiralal Sen award for best Bengali film of 2018 from FFSI ( Federation of Film Societies of India). Ghosal received the Most Promising Director Award from West Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards, for Rainbow Jelly. In November 2018 Ghosal made

emotional Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...

thriller '' Rawkto Rawhoshyo'' produced by

Surinder Films Surinder Films is an Indian media and entertainment company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern port ...

starred

Koel Mallick Koel Mallick (; born Rukmini Mallick on 28 April 1982), known mononymously as Koel, is an Indian actress known for her work primarily in Bengali films. Often referred to as the "Tolly-Queen", she is the recipient numerous accolades, including ...

, Lily Chakravarty,

Chandan Roy Sanyal Chandan Roy Sanyal (born 30 January 1980) is an Indian actor who is known for his work in the Hindi and Bengali language films of India. After graduating with a degree in mathematics, he made his acting debut in the 2006 film '' Rang de Basant ...

, Rwitobroto Mukherjee, Shantilal Mukherjee, Basabdatta Chatterjee etc.

2019–present

In August 2019 he made his fifth feature film Bhootpori a horror fantasy. This is a biography of a ghost who came into existence after the death of a Bengali widow in the eve of the Independence Day of India. The film starred

, Ritwick Chakraborty, Sudipta Chakraborty, Shantilal Mukherjee, Bishantak Mukherjee etc. Rawkto Rawhoshyo was released in theatres on 21 October 2020 during

Durga Puja Durga Puja (ISO 15919, ISO: , ), also known as Durgotsava or Shaaradotsava, is an annual festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which pays homage to the Hinduism, Hindu goddess Durga, and is also celebrated because of Durga's victo ...

. The film was initially scheduled to release on 10 April 2020, but was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Bhootpori was released on 9 February 2024 in West Bengal and was screened at the

, Goa on 25 November 2024.

Filmography

Films

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghosal, Soukarya Living people 1986 births University of Calcutta alumni Bengali film directors Bengali screenwriters Screenwriters from Kolkata Film directors from Kolkata 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Indian screenwriters