Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati, which functions under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, is evaluating a proposal to present a film titled Tillotoma, based on the rape and murder of a medical student from Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College in August 2024. “The proposal for the movie has been received and is under evaluation,” the organisation’s Chief Executive Officer Gaurav Dwivedi confirmed to HT.
The case, which sparked widespread protests across West Bengal, and which rapidly acquired a political colour with the state’s opposition Bharatiya Janata Party targetting the ruling Trinamool Congress over it, involved the death of a young doctor inside the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital premises. The brutality of the incident and subsequent allegations of police inaction triggered a national outcry, leading to an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The victim’s family has opposed the project. Her father who said, “We have no interest in the film being made because this doesn’t help our case at all. We just want justice. The director is making it for his benefit. They keep calling us and disturbing us. We want nothing to do with the film.”
Sanjay Roy, the main accused in the case, was sentenced to life term by a sessions court in Kolkata on January 20. But the family of the victim has expressed its dissatisfaction with the verdict and approached the Calcutta high court.
Director Ujjwal Chatterjee, who won the National Award in 1992 for his Bengali feature Gondi and has also directed Escape from Taliban starring Manisha Koirala, is slated to direct the film, and said Tillotoma will be told from the perspective of the victim’s mother, with former Rajya Sabha MP and actress Rupa Ganguly set to play the lead role.
Chatterjee said he has spoken with the victim’s parents to seek consent to use the victim’s real name in the film. “If we don’t get permission, we will still make the movie, but under a different name,” he said. He claimed that officials within Prasar Bharati encouraged him to make the movie, naming chairman Navneet Sehgal specifically. Sehgal declined to comment when contacted.
Because of the sensitive nature of the case and the ongoing investigations, Chatterjee said he expects the shoot to face hurdles in Kolkata and is therefore planning to film in New Delhi. “The film will see opposition in the state as soon as it goes to the floor,” he said, adding that filming is likely to start in December 2025 and wrap up by January 2026 with an aim to release it ahead of the Bengal Assembly elections in March 2026.
Chatterjee has claimed that the film is being backed by sections of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal, with BJP MLA and general secretary of the state unit Agnimitra Paul “actively helping” him in getting it made. However, BJP’s West Bengal president Samik Bhattacharya denied any official involvement of the party. “The BJP has no role in the making of this film,” he said.
Paul suggested otherwise. She confirmed her personal association with the victim’s family. “I have been with the parents since the beginning, and they have a soft corner for me,” she told HT. “We are trying to convince them to support the film, though their lawyer is not keen that it’s made right now. Unless the parents agree, we can’t go ahead.” She alleged that the case was mishandled by state authorities and said the film would bring the truth to light.