Dev and Mithun’s Projapati: ‘No Panic, only Tonic’, the dialogue took over the hearts of the audiences and movie halls echoed with cheers and whistles as Dev set out to fulfill the dreams of a retired couple by making them enjoy a fresh lease of life in Avijit Sen’s directorial film ‘Tonic’.  Starring Dev and Paran Bandhyopadhyay in the lead, the biggest blockbuster of the year Tonic made its entry to the 53^rd International Film Festival of India 2022 in the Indian Panorama segment.

But there’s something more to rejoice about. The actor and producer are once again coming together with director Avijit Sen for his upcoming film Projapati. Produced by Bengal Talkies and Dev Entertainment Ventures, the family drama will bring together Dev and veteran actors Mithun Chakraborty and Mamata Shankar. Though the announcement of the film was made earlier this year, the makers revealed the first poster of the film on Thursday at Kolkata’s film centre Nandan.

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Dev, along with director Avijit Sen and the ensemble cast including Mamata Shankar, Koneenica Banerjee, Sweta Bhattacharya, Biswanath Basu and others were present at the event. The film marks the comeback of Mithun Chakraborty to Bengali cinema after years and director Avijit Sen said it’s a dream project for him to work with the living legends. “I feel fortunate to get to work with such veteran actors like Mithun Chakraborty and Mamta Shankar. They are coming together on screen after 46 years and still have the same electrifying chemistry,” said the director.

Talking about the film, the director adds, “Projapati is a resonance to the understandings and nuances of relationship between a father and son. Dev has always amazed me with his works and this time also he keeps up the surprise. The purity and affection of the bonds between the characters have reflected on screen.”

Hailed for his unconventional choice of films, Dev makes it a point to come up with new concepts every time he appears on screen. Speaking about the film, the actor-producer shared, “The film is an emotional joy ride and I think we couldn’t get a better cast than Mithun da and Momo di (Mamata Shankar). After 46 years of Mrigaya they are coming together once again and with such grace. I always shared a very easy equation with Mithun da, we have worked earlier and we can talk about anything and everything under the sun, he is that much dear to me. But it’s my first time working with Momo di and it was amazing.“

Actress Koneenica Banerjee who was also a part of Tonic, is playing Dev’s sister in the film. “Projapati means colours. It brings in colours to our lives maybe in the form of love, joy or through any person. This film is a celebration of that, the celebration of colours,” said the actress.

The film also marks the debut of television actress Sweta Bhattacharya on big screen and is slated to release on December 23, this year.