Praktan is basically about Ujaan Mukherjee and Sudipa who have gone through a marriage that did not work. And Sudipa finds herself in a spot of bother as she realizes that Malini and Putul are none other than Ujaan's present wife and daughter. Upset over the same, she clearly demonstrates that she has not completely forgiven Ujaan for whatever happened between them and seems to carry the burden of their memories. A common love for heritage and culture had seen the conservation architect from Mumbai, Sudipa fall in love with Ujaan, an explorer as he liked to call himself and someone who conducted walks of different nature all over Kolkata and nearby towns as a tourist guide. But, of course, life after marriage turned out to be unlike what they had expected leading to their eventual separation. Over the course of the 30 odd hours of the train journey, we come across not just a way of knowing how all these passengers spend their time, but also get an insight into the failed marriage of Ujaan and Sudipa. Ujaan joins them at Nagpur after driving down by road to catch the train. He is surprised to find Sudipa in the same coupe as his family. A non-linear approach in a subtle manner is used to shift the focus on and off from the train journey to the relationship between the two individuals who started off being madly in love, only to see their marriage crumbling in front of their own eyes. They ensure that the focus is more or less only on these two individuals when their past is shown, there is a mention of Ujaan's close friend and Sudipa's parents, but they are never really shown. Even the rest of the family members of Ujaan are barely showcased in an attempt to take us through their relationship curve. Over the course of their story we also get to understand how and what went wrong in case of their marriage. Beginning with a sense of apprehension and even disgust in a way, it's wonderful to see Sudipa gradually opening up to Malini and acknowledging how wrong she was in her assumption about her. There are lots of wonderful moments in the film, like the one where the old ladySabitri Chatterjee complains to the railway attendant about the AC and other aspects in horrible Bangla mixed Hindi as her husband Soumitra Chatterjee humorously points out later. Also, the way Ujaan and Sudipa manage to just about have a soulful discussion about their past and of course the interaction between Malini and Sudipa right at the end. Apart from the “Antakshari” sequence, there is hardly any interaction between the people on the coach. But then, this is essentially the story of Ujaan and Sudipa and their failed relationship. It's wonderful to see how well-etched Malini's character is and she is the one who in a way helps bring closure in the lives of both Ujaan and Sudipa.
Aveepsa Basak as Udita Mukherjee aka Putul, Molly and Ujaan's daughter
Release
Praktan was released on Friday, 27 May 2016 in both the city of Kolkata as well as in all the other major towns and cities of West Bengal at the same time. The film screened in 90+ cinema theaters in the Greater Kolkata region alone. Besides Kolkata; Praktan was also released to the audience in more than 25 cinema theaters outside of West Bengal and in 9 theaters in USA, covering almost all the major American cities with a large Bengali diaspora. The film was also screened in two cinema theaters in Canada. Praktan has now become the biggest ever Bengali-film release breaking many earlier records of the film industry. Praktan is one among the ten Bengali films from first half of 2016 to win Critical Acclaim.
Box office
On the very first day of its release, the film grossed an estimated 25 lacs rupees, becoming the highest-grossing film of the day. Within three days the film made a business of 1 Crore rupees. It is being surmised that the film will be raking in as much as 2 Crore rupees after the first week. The film enjoyed significant success overseas also, becoming one of the first Bengali films to nearly earn a total of 5 lacs rupees. In the opening week itself the film grossed an estimated earning of 3.6 lacs rupees in the 7 cinema theaters in USA and made approximately 1.02 lac rupees in Canada.
Soundtrack
The music for Praktan is composed by Anupam Roy and Anindya Chatterjee and the lyrics have been penned by them as well.
