Oct 01, 2026 6:49pm IST

‘Emperor Vs Sarat Chandra’ Trailer Review: Abir Chatterjee, Tota Roy Choudhury Play Key Characters In A Fight For Freedom

Urmimala Banerjee

Senior News Editor

"Emperor Vs Sarat Chandra" trailer is out now. One of the big Bengali movies of 2026, it releases on October 15 at the start of Durga Puja. The film is coinciding with the centenary celebrations of famous Bengali author, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's revolutionary novel, "Pather Dabi." In the movie, Tota Roy Choudhury plays the part of novelist Sarat Chandra while Abir Chatterjee is his fictional hero, Sabyasachi Mallick. A highly-educated young man, Mallick dedicates his life to the revolutionary movement that gained prominence in West Bengal. The novel is also hailed as the one that inspired Subhash Chandra Bose. 

Tota Roy Choudhury manages to ace the look of the writer to a great extent and it is a huge win for the makers. Somnath Kundu has done the makeup and prosthetics for the movie. Viewers will see Abir Chatterjee as Sabyasachi Mallick, his fictional hero who travels across states, nations in his quest to seek freedom for India. The film, "Emperor Vs Sarat Chandra" is a cinematic account of what happened with Sarat Chandra after "Pather Dabi" became a rage with Indians. The novel was banned in 1927 for sedition. The film's trailer highlights this journey promising audiences a lot of drama, action and emotions. 

However, the scene that grips viewers is the one where Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay is seen having a debate with Rabindranath Tagore played by Sanjoy Nag in the movie on freedom and what creative agency means for an author. 

Filmmaker Srijit Mukherji is known for his period drama "Rajkahini" (2015), which was also set in the pre-Independence period. He is also a music composer for "Emperor Vs Sarat Chandra" composing and writing lyrics for "Shoite Shoite." 

The trailer showcases Choudhury, Chatterjee and Chakraborty's emotional turmoil, which is the crux of the movie along with being a union of fact and fiction against colonial rule in India. 

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