PANAJI: After a gap of 58 years, an Indian film will be released simultaneously on both sides of the border when it comes to the screen in West Bengal and Bangladesh next week.

Goutam Ghose’s film ‘Moner Manush’ (The Quest), which is a part of the competition at the ongoing IFFI, is an Indo-Bangladesh co-production and will be released on 3 December with more than 110 prints in both the countries.

Ghose said he was excited about the project as it has its cast and crew from both the sides of the border. “With the help of cinema we can help to bridge the gap between the people of both the countries. The love and compassion of Lalan is relevant more than ever in today’s world of intolerance and hate,” he added.

The lead actor Priyanshu Chatterjee who plays Jyotirindranath Tagore, said he was delighted to work with Ghose on the project “as the whole package was attractive and challenging”.

Talking about the music, Ghose said the music is integral to the film and is also part of the script, since Lalan communicated through verse.

The exchange of views between Rabindranath Tagore’s elder brother Jyotirindranath Tagore, an urban intellectual, and the octogenarian Lalan faqir – a man of native wisdom - forms the cinematic narrative of the film.

It is a saga of the life and times of Lalan Faqir and his liberal sect who lived a life of high order in an otherwise superstitious 19th century Indian society and developed an extremely secular and tolerant philosophy based on the best of the liberal and enlightened tradition of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. And, thus, became an easy prey for the Hindu and Muslim fundamentalists.

Based on a novel by Sunil Gangopadhyay, the cast of the film includes Prosenjit Chatterjee, Raisul Islam Asad, Chanchal Chowdhury, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Syed Hasan Imam, Gulshan Ara Champa, Paoli Dam and Shubhra.