RAINCOAT
Directed by Rituparno Ghosh
Starring: Aishwarya Rai, Ajay Devgan, Mouli Ganguly, Sameer Dharmadhikari, Annu Kapoor and Surekha Sikri.
UK Release 23 December 2004

One rainy afternoon,
Six years later…
Two estranged lovers met…
To play the game of words.

These four lines summarize the essence of Rituparno Ghosh’s “Raincoat” starring Ajay Devgan and Aishwariya Rai in lead roles. After directing the highly acclaimed Choker Bali that did well in the festival circuit and also starred Aishwariya Rai, this will be Rituparno Ghosh’s first attempt at directing a Bollywood movie. Similarly, Ajay Devgan is working for the first time with a Tollywood director.

The story begins with Manoj (Ajay Devgan) leaving for Kolkata in search of a job in the city but also to meet his beloved Niru (Aishwariya Rai) after six years, now a married woman who rightfully is no longer his. On a rainy day, equipped with his friend’s old raincoat, Manoj sets out to visit his old love. As the two confront each other once again, their hearts and minds dive in the yesteryears yet surfacing to reality. Told in flashbacks and smooth transitions between past and present, Raincoat is a story of love between Niru and Manoj that endures despite circumstances and separation.

The film also stars Mouli Ganguly, Sameer Dharmadhikari, Annu Kapoor and Surekha Sikri in important roles.

Rituparno Ghosh has proven with his award winning Bengali films that he represents meaningful cinema and has generated a craze with “Raincoat“. The film has already received critical acclaim and after a long period, we will see a Hindi art movie successfully cross over to the Bollywood commercial audience. He is probably the first Tollywood (Bengali) director to cause so much hype in Bollywood with a first attempt at Hindi cinema.

The entire script of the film was written by Rituparno in Bengali. Since Ghosh is not adept in Hindi, he approached theatre personality Usha Ganguly to convert it to Hindi. The movie was shot in 25 days in Kolkata and set mostly in an apartment along with sparing outdoors.