Praktan

Praktan
Praktan film-release poster
Bengali: প্রাক্তন
Directed by	Nandita Roy Shiboprosad Mukherjee
Produced by	Atanu Roy Chowdhury Windows Production House
Written by	Nandita Roy
Starring	Prosenjit Chatterjee Rituparna Sengupta Soumitra Chatterjee Aparajita Adhya Sabitri Chatterjee Biswanath Basu Manali Dey Anupam Roy
Music by	Anupam Roy
Production company	Windows Production House
Release date	27 May 2016 (2016-05-27)( India, USA, Canada
Country	India
Language	Bengali
Budget	₹2 crore (US$310,000)
Box office	₹8.5 crore (US$1.3 million) ( collection worldwide)

Praktan (meaning Former) is a 2016 Indian Bengali film directed by Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy. The film starred award winning actor Prosenjit Chatterjee and Rituparna Sengupta. The film released to a huge reception on 27 May 2016 worldwide. It also received the International Film Business Award 2016 for becoming the Highest Grossing Movie of the Year - Bengal alongside films liks Kabaali, Sultan, Sairat and Action Hero Biju, at Indywood Film Carnival at Ramoji Film City.

Praktan (former) is basically about Ujaan Mukherjee (Prosenjit) and Sudipa (Rituparna) who have gone through a marriage that did not work. But the director duo has preferred not to show a straightforward relationship tale of these two individuals, preferring instead to use the medium of a train journey to narrate the journey of their failing relationship. The film begins with various people shown boarding a first class A.C. compartment of Jnaneshwari Express from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Kurla in Mumbai, the start of a long journey to Kolkata (Howrah). Sudipa finds herself sharing her coupe with Malini aka Molly (Aparajita Adhya) and her young daughter Putul. Others in the compartment include the newly wedded couple Ajay (Biswanath Basu) and (Manali Dey), an elderly couple (Soumitra Chatterjee) and (Sabitri Chatterjee), who are off to Kolkata as their son’s family is departing to the U.S and a group of 4 musicians (popular musicians in real life – (Anupam Roy) along with (Anindya Chatterjee) and (Upal Sengupta) of the popular band 'Chandrabindo'o and (Surojit Chatterjee) who was part of another popular band, 'Bhoomi'). In their own ways, some of the passengers seem to be having something about their past on their minds. The newly married couple briefly talk to each other about their past relationships and get on with their fondness for each other. The elderly couple is sad to leave behind their children but know that they have to move on with their own lives. One of the musicians reminisces about his association with the band that he was part of and his co-founder. And Sudipa finds herself in a spot of bother as she realizes that Malini and Putul are none other than Ujaan’s present wife and daughter. Upset over the same, she clearly demonstrates that she has not completely forgiven Ujaan for whatever happened between them and seems to carry the burden of their memories. A common love for heritage and culture had seen the conservation architect from Mumbai, Sudipa fall in love with Ujaan, an explorer as he liked to call himself and someone who conducted walks of different nature all over Kolkata and nearby towns as a tourist guide. But, of course, life after marriage turned out to be unlike what they had expected leading to their eventual separation.