Community Spotlight / Ann Mukherjee Discusses Launch Of The First Indo-American Bengali Film ‘Chheledhora’, Starring Swastika Mukherjee

Ann Mukherjee Discusses Launch Of The First Indo-American Bengali Film ‘Chheledhora’, Starring Swastika Mukherjee

Community Spotlight Mar 04, 2026

by Team ANOKHI LIFE

A new Indo-American production banner is stepping onto the global stage with a defined purpose. Sita22 Films, founded by global corporate leader-turned-producer Anindita Mukherjee (Ann Mukherjee), makes its debut with Chheledhora, a Bengali-language family thriller that begins principal photography March 1 in the rarely filmed landscapes of Itanagar and Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh.

Co-produced with India’s Handyyman, the film is being positioned as the first-ever Indo-American Bengali-language feature. Written and directed by Shieladitya Moulik — known for the Bangla hit Sweater and the theatrical success Surjo — Chheledhora centers on Brishti, portrayed by Swastika Mukherjee, a divorced and morally complex mother whose impulsive decision to “steal” her daughter for a birthday celebration collides with a far more dangerous reality.

Moulik describes the film as “a story about broken parents discovering the courage and selflessness they didn’t know they possessed,” adding that while it unfolds like a road journey with unexpected turns, “at its heart, it’s about healing — about how children often become the moral compass for adults.”

For Swastika Mukherjee, the role of Brishti is defined by contradiction. “Brishti is not an easy woman to like,” she has said. “She is impulsive, wounded and deeply flawed, but her love for her daughter is instinctive and fierce.” Blending emotional family drama with thriller elements and dark humor, the film positions itself as a rare Bengali-language road narrative anchored by a layered female protagonist.

Guiding the film’s global trajectory is Creative Producer and Film Festivals Strategist Jitin Hingorani, known for Call Me Dancer and Zende. With an international festival roadmap already in view, Chheledhora signals a cross-border collaboration rooted in Bengali-language storytelling with international ambition.

As Sita22 Films embarks on its first production, ANOKHI sits down with Ann Mukherjee to discuss her transition from corporate leadership to cinema, the significance of launching with a Bengali-language story, and the long-term vision behind the banner.

Exclusive Chat With Ann Mukherjee

ANOKHI: After four decades in global corporate leadership, what emotional or philosophical shift prompted you to move into film production?

ANN MUKHERJEE: I have learned that driving growth for global business and brands starts with understanding the needs and desires of human beings. The consumers that buy what you do, the employees that make what you do, the investors who fund what you do.

To be successful with all these humans, you must capture their imagination, show them possibilities, make them believe. At the end of the day it’s creativity that is the oxygen to growth.

And now I want to do that not just to deliver quarterly earnings but to drive cultural change. To quote the great poet Rumi, “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

Born in Kolkata and raised in America, I have spent much of my life navigating between being a Bengali Indian and an American — never fully feeling like one or the other. Founding Sita22 Films and producing Chheledhora felt like coming home and finally bringing together my two identities. For the first time, I’m not explaining my hyphen — I’m embracing it.

You’ve described creativity as “the oxygen to growth.” How does that philosophy translate from boardrooms to film sets?

Whether in business or on set, growth only happens when people feel empowered to imagine boldly.

In corporate life, creativity sparked innovation so we could monetize what was made. On a film set, creativity sparks empathy and meaning. It allows actors, writers, and film makers to explore life’s experiences.

In corporations creativity must result in scale and structure— but in film making creativity creates results in connection and unimagined possibilities. It creates windows into your soul.

Chheledhora is the first-ever Indo-American Bengali-language film. What does that milestone mean to you personally?

It means visibility — and validation.

Bengalis are storytellers; it’s in our blood…..from our Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore to Satyajit Ray, who was awarded the Oscar’s lifetime achievement award. Despite our rich heritage, Bengali storytelling is globally under-leveraged. To help bring the first Indo-American, Bengali-language feature film to life is both historic and deeply personal.

It signals that our language, our silences, our emotional nuance belong on the global stage. For me, it represents the moment where my two worlds stopped competing — and started collaborating.

The Bengali diaspora has been described as underrepresented in world cinema. How does Chheledhora begin addressing that gap?

Representation isn’t about token presence — it’s about layered humanity.

Chheledhora presents Bengali characters who are complex, flawed, courageous, and real. By structuring it as an Indo-American co-production, we’re also ensuring it has pathways to global festivals and diaspora audiences.

We are proving that stories can be culturally-specific and, yet, universally-resonant because they showcase human experiences, regardless of culture and border.

When you speak about giving “voice to the voiceless,” who specifically do you envision—women, children, the Bengali diaspora, or all of the above?

It includes, but is not limited to, all of the above.

Women whose strength is often overlooked. Children whose vulnerability is too easily dismissed. Diaspora communities who live in emotional limbo. It could also be about men who suffer deep pain but cultural norms don’t allow them to be vulnerable.

Giving voice means empowering people who have lack visibility, importance, sympathy, or lack the strength to speak.

What was it about Chheledhora, both the character of Brishti and the film’s broader themes, that made you decide this should be Sita22 Films’ inaugural project?

Brishti is not written as a symbol — she is written as a woman navigating fear, responsibility, and moral courage. That authenticity moved me.

The film confronts difficult themes around child safety and societal complicity, but it does so through human intimacy. As Sita22’s inaugural project, I wanted something that was culturally-rooted, yet globally-urgent. Chheledhora embodies that mission.

What drew you to collaborate with Shieladitya Moulik for Sita22’s debut project?

Shieladitya understands the emotional cadence of Bengali life — its restraint, its intensity, its moral texture.

For a first project, alignment of vision is everything. He brought artistic clarity and cultural authenticity, while embracing the ambition of an Indo-American scale. That balance was essential.

How important was securing Swastika Mukherjee early in the process to the film’s development?

Swastika IS Brishti. She is the only one who can breathe life into this incredibly complex character. I have admired Swastika from afar as an actor and as a woman who is unapologetic about who she is and what she stands for. She can pull from her personal pain that she keeps in the cupboards of her mind to bring unbelievable beauty and empathy to her characters.

She is the heart of this film!

How do you balance commercial viability with socially conscious storytelling?

I don’t believe they are opposing forces. If a story is compelling, audiences will engage. If it is emotionally honest and authentic, it will resonate. Commercial viability ensures the story travels. Social consciousness ensures it matters, once it arrives.

What unique opportunities and challenges arise when building an Indo-American co-production?

The opportunity is scale — expanded capital networks, distribution access, and diaspora engagement.

The challenge is alignment — legal systems, cultural rhythms, creative expectations. It requires patience and trust. But when done thoughtfully and with compassion, it creates something neither system could achieve alone.

How do you see Sita22 Films evolving as a bridge between India and the diaspora over the next five years?

I see Sita22 Films becoming a platform for Indo-hyphenated narratives — stories of migration, memory, belonging, and ambition.

We aim to collaborate with creators across continents and build projects that travel — theatrically, on streaming platforms, and across festivals.

The bridge we are building is not just geographic; it is emotional.

Looking ahead, what kind of stories would define Sita22 Films’ legacy a decade from now?

Stories that center courage. Stories that protect the vulnerable. Stories that honor complexity.

If, ten years from now, young people who grew up between cultures feel seen — and feel they no longer have to apologize for their hyphenated identity — then we will have succeeded.

For me, Sita22 Films is about turning the hyphen into power.

Featured Image Credit: IG @jitinhingorani

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Ann Mukherjee Discusses Launch Of The First Indo-American Bengali Film ‘Chheledhora’, Starring Swastika Mukherjee

by Team ANOKHI LIFE

Exclusive Chat With Ann Mukherjee

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