Shyam Singha Roy

Shyam Singha Roy is a 2021 Telugu-language period romantic action drama directed by Rahul Sankrityan. Built on the theme of reincarnation and partly set in 1970s Kolkata, it stars Nani in a dual role alongside Sai Pallavi and Krithi Shetty, with Madonna Sebastian and Rahul Ravindran. Released on 24 December 2021, it drew mixed to positive reviews and was the seventh highest-grossing Telugu film of the year.

Story

Vasu, an aspiring director in Hyderabad, finally makes his first feature, only to be arrested when a Kolkata publisher claims it copies, scene for scene, a 1970s bestselling novel by the revolutionary writer Shyam Singha Roy. Vasu insists he has never read the book. Searching for an explanation, he begins to confront visions of a previous life as Shyam Singha Roy, a fierce Bengali social reformer, and of the woman Shyam loved. The film moves between the two eras; its revelations are best discovered on screen.

Cast

• Nani as Vasu and as Shyam Singha Roy
• Sai Pallavi and Krithi Shetty in the female leads
• Madonna Sebastian, in her return to Telugu films after Premam
• Rahul Ravindran, Murali Sharma and Abhinav Gomatam
• Jisshu Sengupta in an important role
• Leela Samson, the Bharatanatyam dancer, in her Telugu debut

Development

Sankrityan narrated the script to Nani on 18 December 2019, and the film was announced in February 2020. It was first to be produced by Sithara Entertainments, but after disagreements over cutting the budget during the pandemic the production passed to Venkat Boyanapalli’s new company, Niharika Entertainment. Nani chose Krithi Shetty after being impressed by her work, and Sai Pallavi re-teamed with him after Middle Class Abbayi. Mickey J. Meyer composed the music, with Sanu John Varghese as cinematographer and Naveen Nooli as editor.

Filming

The film was launched in Hyderabad on 11 December 2020 and shot from 21 December 2020 to 26 July 2021, with a break for the pandemic lockdown. A Kolkata street and a replica of the Kalighat Kali Temple were built in Hyderabad; the source puts their cost at ₹6 crore, and the set had to be restored after heavy rain damaged it. Crucial scenes were also shot in Kolkata.

Release and reception

Originally planned for Christmas 2020, the film was released on 24 December 2021 in Telugu and dubbed into Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada, and began streaming on Netflix in January 2022. Critics praised the direction, story, music, cinematography and performances, singling out Sai Pallavi, while finding fault with the screenplay. Reviewers singled out Sai Pallavi’s classical dance sequence, and the song “Pranavalaya”, set in the raga Shuddha Dhanyasi, became a popular classical dance number.

Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.