Winkle Twinkle
Directed by	Srijit Mukherji
Screenplay by	Srijit Mukherji
Story by	Bratya Basu
Based on	Winkle Twinkle by Bratya Basu
Produced by	Firdausul Hasan
Starring	Ritwick Chakraborty Parambrata Chatterjee
Production companies	Friends Communication Rajashree Productions
Distributed by	PVR Inox Pictures
Release date	4 September 2026 (2026-09-04)
Country	India
Language	Bengali

Winkle Twinkle is an upcoming Bengali political drama film^[1] directed and written by Srijit Mukherji.^[2][3] It is based on the play of the same name written by actor and playwright Bratya Basu.^[4] The film, produced by Firdausul Hasan under the banner of Friends Communication stars Ritwick Chakraborty and Parambrata Chatterjee in the lead roles. Later, Rajashree Productions collaborated with Communications to produce the film.^[5] In November 2024, Mukherji shared a poster for the film showing a broken statue of Vladimir Lenin with two actors sitting in front of it. Winkle Twinkle is one of Mukherji's films adapted from dramas, with his previous film adapting the play Julius Caesar.^[6] The film is planned to be distributed by PVR Inox Pictures in theaters.

The film revolves around a father named Sabyasachi Sen and a son named Indra. It primarily focuses on Sen who disappears from police custody in January 1976, and later "reappears like Rip Van Winkle to find a completely transformed world and family." A teaser for the film lasting 1 minute 26 seconds was released on July 30, 2026. Winkle Twinkle is set for a release on September 4, 2026.^[7] A song for it was recorded by Shreya Ghoshal and Tamalika Golder. The film's shooting started some time after November 25, 2024 and was wrapped up by January 26, 2025. Several comments about the roles, plot and theme of it were issued by the director, actors and producer.

It was heard in mid-2023 that Srijit Mukherji would acquire the rights of the play by Bratya Basu and direct it into a film. However, the announcement of the film was made in November 2024 along with the caption that shooting would be started very soon. Basu commented that he had faith in Mukherji despite that hos play was for the theater. Later, Anashua Majumdar and Angana Roy were stated to be included in the film cast. In December 2024, Shreya Ghoshal and Tamalika Golder recorded a song which Mukherji posted about on social media. Another song named "Na Thaka Priyo" from the film was released on YouTube focusing on the central theme of it and love, emotions. A new poster for the film was put out in April 2026 showing a blood bag with two bridges.

Premise

The play Winkle Twinkle was written by Bratya Basu in 2002. The play portrays political conflict between a father who is ethical and upright and a son, who is unhesitant to compromise for his own benefit. In the same year Debesh Chattopadhyay adapted the play into a stage production with his own theater group.^[8] The play focused on Sabyasachi Sen who disappeared from police custody in 1976 and later found himself 26 years later in 2002 standing against his son Indra on opposite political grounds.^[9][10]

Cast

Source:^[5][11]

• Ritwick Chakraborty as Sabyasachi Sen
• Parambrata Chatterjee as Indra
• Rajatava Dutta
• Sohini Sarkar
• Anashua Majumdar as Indra's mother
• Angana Roy as Indra's sister
• Debesh Chattopadhyay

Production and development

In mid-2023, it was heard that Srijit Mukherji might acquire rights to Bratya Basu's play to start and direct a film on it. Winkle Twinkle was confirmed to be made a real film in November 2024, with statements made by him. Mukherji released a poster in the same month with announcements that the film shooting would be starting very soon. It was speculated in the late-2023 that Anirban Bhattacharya might be playing a role in it, which was later proven false with the official names of the actors given out. Besides, it was reported by Sangbad Pratidin that Angana Roy will play the role of Indra's sister and Anashua Majumdar would play the role of Sen's mother.^[12]

Srijit Mukherji confirmed that he would be directing and later releasing a new film based on a play by Bratya Basu on November 24, 2026, the day on which the film poster was released. The poster showed the symbol of hammer and sickle, along with a broken statue of Lenin with two people sitting in front of it, whose faces were not then revealed.^[13] Sources stated that Ritwick Chakraborty and Parambrata Chatterjee would be playing the lead roles, along with Anashua Majumdar and Angana Roy to play as actors. Bratya Basu said that his play Winkle Twinkle was written primarily for theaters. However he showed optimism about the upcoming film, "I am feeling happy. Even though I am quite skeptical, since this play was written mainly for theaters. However, I believe in Srijit. With his talent, he will be able to give Winkle Twinkle its own cinematic language." Producer Firdausul Hasan during this time bought the rights to the film. He stated that although the film is a political drama, it is an adaptation. The shooting was to start from January 2025.^[14]

On December 10, 2024, Mukherji posted pictures on social media from a recording studio remarking that singers Shreya Ghoshal and Tamalika Golder had recorded a song for the film. This recording followed his first poster release in November.^[15] Before the film, Ghoshal sung "Baundule Ghuri" for Mukherji's film Dawsham Abotaar in 2023. Golder made her singing debut with Mukherji's web series Durga Rohoshyo.^[16] A song was later released named "Na Thaka Priyo", although initially not suggested by Mukherji's post.^[17]

"Na Thaka Priyo" was another song from Winkle Twinkle, with lyrics by Srimoy Bhattacharya, music by Tamalika Golder, and vocals by Rapurna Bhattacharya. The song's theme describes the undying love between two lovers despite their physical distance. Piya Roy of The Telegraph wrote, "Na thaka priyo highlights how the bonds of true love and the memories of a beautiful and meaningful shared past can never fade away even when the lovers are physically distant from each other."^[18] The music video showed a family navigating through hardships of life, with the song pointing towards the grief, emotions and different ideologies of the members. With alignment to the theme of the film, the track indicates the pain of absence, the lover's memories, grief and emotional connection.^[18]

On April 23, 2026, Mukherji unveiled a new poster for Winkle Twinkle following his posting of a new poster for Emperor vs Sarat Chandra. The new film poster showed a blood bag where green color or blood mixed with red blood, with dense clouds in the background and the presence of Howrah Bridge and Vidyasagar Setu, the two bridges connecting Howrah with Kolkata. On the top, it was written that it was based on Bratya Basu's play. Names of the actors were written on different sides of the new film poster.^[19]

A teaser for the film was released on July 30, 2026, offering glimpses to the upcoming film, a deeply moving drama centered on conflicts. The production companies commented: "Winkle Twinkle follows a man who returns to his family after decades of absence, setting off emotional fragmentation and bringing unresolved histories to the surface. While set against a political backdrop, the film is essentially a deeply personal story that explores the passage of time, generational divide, and the burden of one's convictions."^[20][21]

In January 2025, Srijit Mukherji brought the actors and Bratya Basu in a single area and took photos on occasion of the last day of the film's shooting. A narrow lane in Dum Dum, Kolkata was crowded from morning on January 25. Extra activities started from afternoon when Basu arrived in a white van and met the director of the film. Crews from Anandabazar Patrika arrived on the set. Basu on the day showed optimism when he was sitting on a chair behind a monitor. Mukherji said that he was quite fascinated to work on the play written by Basu. He said that Basu had given him full independence to adapt the drama since he liked Mukherji's works.^[22]

Devshankar Halder, an actor in the original play in 2002 commented that he wants to see Winkle Twinkle be adapted into a film in a positive way. Halder was offered to act in the film by the director, but he denied because of lack of time. He spoke that he wants to see the film in a positive perspective.^[22] Debesh Chattopadhyay entered the shooting unit some time later from another side. Preparation for shooting the interior scenes was made by the unit, after which Mukherji called a lunch break. Among the actors, Anashua Majumdar and Angana Roy were also present inside the unit. Mukherji wanted to pay a homage to the original play of 2002, for which he declared Debesh Chattopadhyay and Rajatava Dutta to be playing special roles for the film.^[22] Parambrata Chatterjee was found in front of a makeup van; his shooting was to start later. According to Chatterjee, Winkle Twinkle highlights the ideology of the leftists. "Leftists need to have a presence in the not only the state but whole country. This film points towards the reasons as to why they left the government." Ritwick Chakraborty outside the unit commented that though he had seen the original play, he wanted to forget that experience to act better in the film and not conflict with the events he had seen at the original play.^[22]

Srijit Mukherji remarked that he decided to make the play into a film after watching it for the first time at the age of 25 [in 2002]. He said that he believed that the film does not lean towards any political party, further saying "This play is like a metaphor to me. So I believe that it is relevant regardless of country or time. Abhinandan Datta of Ananbazar wrote that he was happy to have everyone on set at the last day. Mukherji stated that shooting would continue till midnight, and said that that they had to finish it on time.^[22]

References