Emperor vs Sarat Chandra (2026)

Interesting facts

• Based on: Pather Dabi

Emperor vs Sarat Chandra is a 2026 Bengali-language epic historical drama film written and directed by Srijit Mukherji, who also makes his debut as a film music album composer in the film. Produced by Pradip Kumar Nandy under the banner of Nandy Movies, it was initially scheduled for release on May 1, 2026, it was released in October, 2026, on the occasion of Durga Puja. It is based on Pather Dabi, a 1926 novel (novella) written by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, the subsequent ban on the book and a correspondence between Chattopadhyay and Rabindranath Tagore. A 59-second teaser of the film was released on June 3, 2026 by its makers.

Production

Srijit Mukherjee announced the film by posting on Twitter on the morning of 31 August 2025. He stated the film to be a period drama set in 1926, the pre-Indian independence era. He said the title of the film to be inspired from the British Indian court case about the bombing in Alipore, Emperor v. Aurobindo Ghosh. Mukherji said the production to originally begin from November 2025.

Upon the first announcement of the film, Srijit Mukherji said that Tota Roychowdhury, Abir Chatterjee and Sohini Sarkar would be playing the lead roles, with the production houses Dag Creative Media and Shree Venkatesh Films. With effect on the Tollywood film industry, IMPFA-Federation gave out new rules that a production house will not be able to release two films at the same to avoid conflicting the release dates of films by production houses.

The new film poster with Nandy Movies was released on 27 November 2025. Pather Dabi was adapted as a film in 1977, called Sabyasachi, starring Uttam Kumar. During the announcement of Emperor vs Sarat Chandra, Mukhherji's upcoming film Lawho Gouranger Naam Re was being shot, scheduled for release during Christmas.

A teaser for the film lasting 59-seconds was released on June 3, 2026, a Wednesday. In the teaser, Abir Chatterjee was revealed to be playing the role of Sabyasachi Mallick, protagonist of the novel and a revolutionary. He appeared in the teaser dressed in a white shirt, coat, and a hat, holding pistols in both hands, suggesting ambidexterity.

Before Mukherji started making significant changes to the screenplay of the film, he re-read Pather Dabi for properly positioning Sabyasachi's career and Chattopadhyay's works and to structure the screenplay. While shooting the film, Mukherji said that he faced no difficulties when working with actors Abir Chatterjee or Tota Chowdhury. In his early life, Mukherji learned singing, and how to play harmonium, tabla and Hawaiian guitar.

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