“Yeti Obhijaan” trailer is out, but where's Ferdous and Mim?

The first trailer of genius Indian Bangla filmmaker Srijit Mukherji's latest offering “Yeti Obhijaan” was released Sunday, and as exciting as it looks, there is some major disappointment in it for the Bangladeshi audience.

Ferdous Ahmed and Bidya Sinha Mim, two of the biggest names in Bangladeshi cinema, were roped in for the first Bangla film shot in 3D, but in the trailer their presence remains blink-and-you'll-miss-it. Kolkata's Prosenjit Chatterjee takes up almost the entire screen-time in the two minute-plus trailer, that features thrills galore and breathtaking mountain landscapes.

The film, based on Sunil Gangopadhyay's “Paharchuraye Atongko”, the third book of the famous Kakababu series, sees Raja Ray Chowdhury (the eponymous Kakababu, played by Prosenjit) and his nephew Sunondo (Aryann Bhowmick) trek to the perilous Mount Everest in search of the mythical monster, Yeti. With exciting action pieces, sweeping landscapes of snowcapped mountains and punchy dialogues, the trailer sets a proper thriller tone. Mim can be seen twice in the trailer – once far in the background and once shooting a gun, but both are very brief moments and she is barely recognizable with heavy jackets and mountaineering gear on. Ferdous's face can also be seen for a fleeting moment in the trailer, watching through a window, in anticipation of something.

Srijit Mukherji has already left a brazing trail with his filmography which is just seven years old. His first film, “Autograph” won numerous awards, and subsequent films “Baishe Srabon”, “Hemlock Society”, “Mishawr Rohoshyo” (which was also on the Kakababu series with Prosenjit in the lead), “Jaatishwar”, “Chotushkone”, “Nirbaak”, “Rajkahini” and “Zulfiqar” all gaining critical and commercial success. “Jaatishwar” won four National Film Awards, while Srijit himself won Best Director for his next film “Chotushkone”. He also made his Hindi film debut this year with “Begum Jaan”, a remake of “Rajkahini”. Srijit has explored various genres in his span of work – from biopic/musical crossovers to period dramas to literary adaptations, and the first 3D film in the Bangla language is yet another feather to his cap.

This is, however, not the first time Srijit has cast a Bangladeshi actor in his big-screen project. Jaya Ahsan played an important role in the Partition drama “Rajkahini”, and the Bangladeshi film fandom can only hope that the roles of Ferdous and Mim are more pronounced than the first trailer suggests.

“Yeti Obhijaan”, produced by SVF Studios, is set to release in theatres in India on the festive Durga Puja weekend, September 22.