The romance follows 17-year-old Tagore and how he fell in love with a 20-year-old girl
Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra will dabble into filmmaking as her next project concerns poet Rabindranath Tagore. Reports say that she will produce a romance of his early years, in particular, his first real relationship.
Allegedly set for an October 2017 release, the film will explore this significant moment of the poet’s life.
Set in 1878, the romance follows 17-year-old Tagore and how he fell in love with a 20-year-old girl, called Annapurna.
They met when she returned to Mumbai after spending some time in England.
As Tagore stayed over at her father’s house, they began to develop a friendship. As Annapurna could speak well in English, she taught him the language.
But soon, a romance developed between the two. Tagore affectionately referred to her as ‘Nalini’ and even wrote a poem about her. Thus immortalising their love.
However, their relationship failed to last. Sadly the poet’s father didn’t approve of Annapurna and effectively ended the romance. The couple went their separate ways.
While Tagore began to create a magnificent career as a poet, his former lover went back to England after marrying a Scottish man.
In the upcoming biopic, viewers will now get the chance to see the romance blossom between Tagore and Annapurna. Titled simply as ‘Nalini’, director Ujjwal Chatterjee explained more. He said:
“It was a platonic love story and the film will narrate it from the point of view of a young student, who visits modern-day Santiniketan and sees a picture of Annapurna captioned ‘Nalini’.
“Casting is in progress and the film is expected to go on the floors by October.”
The film will allegedly feature in Bengali and Marathi, as well as being dubbed in Hindi.
Reports also suggest the film has gone through several developmental changes. It first contained a larger storyline, possibly featuring more inspiration behind Tagore’s various poems.
However, they decided to instead focus more on his first romance. This should prove a beneficial move, as they can fully capture the love between the two figures.
It also avoids the risk of skipping any pivotal moments during this time period.
Ujjwal Chatterjee also expressed similar sentiments:
“Priyanka wants good stories to reach audiences. Nalini has great potential and is an entertaining subject. We’re happy to be associated with it.”
Nalini looks set to become a film of culture, romance and poetry. DESIblitz cannot wait to hear more about this intriguing project.