# Haami

Haami is a 2018 Bengali film directed by Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee. The movie is produced by Windows and was distributed regionally by the same. Haami is a tale of two friends, Bhutu and Chini, who come from entirely different backgrounds.
Before Haami, Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee came up with Ramdhanu which also dealt with the story of harried parents and what they go through in order to put their children in good schools. Haami could well be considered as a spiritual sequel to this, where Laltu and Mitali's characters are played by the same cast i.e. Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Gargi Roy Chowdhury. As per the figures provided by trade magazine, Film Companion, it was the highest grosser in Bengali cinema in 2018. The Malayalam rights of the movie was acquired by Rajesh Nair, who made Salt Mango Tree, based on the same film.

## Plot

Laltu Biswas (Shiboprosad Mukherjee) and Mitali Biswas (Gargi Roy Chowdhury) are the parents of Bhutu (Broto Banerjee). Mitali is a homemaker and Laltu is a furniture showroom owner. Their son, Bhutu, studies in one of the top schools of Kolkata, where he meets his best friend, Chini (Tiyasha Pal). Contrary to Bhutu's background, Chini comes from a highly intellectual and sophisticated family where her parents, Srinjoy Sen (Sujan Mukhopadhyay) and Rina Sen (Churni Ganguly), are both academics. Bhutu being a diehard fan of Salman Khan like his father, happens to know all the antics from Salman Khan's films. He is the self-proclaimed 'bhaijaan' at school and gets into a scuffle with a classmate, Ajatshotru, because of his antics. One day, out of pure friendship, Bhutu gives a peck on Chini's cheeks. Chini ends up telling this to her class teacher. Keeping in mind Chini's misinterpretation of the incident, the school authorities summon Chini's parents as well as Bhutu's parents, which leads to a confrontation between them and ends up in a brawl. The Sens decide to keep Chini away from Bhutu. After getting a good scolding from his mother, Bhutu decides not to speak to Chini anymore and stops sitting beside her at school, which hurts Chini. Soon their sections are also changed. However, after watching someone getting married on TV, Bhutu decides to marry Chini by putting sindoor on her. Meanwhile, Ajatshotru stands witness to this incident and reports it to the class teacher, who is again forced to take it up with the principal. Both set of parents are summoned again. Though the parents quarrel with each other and the school, they realise at the end how innocent and pure Bhutu and Chini's bonding is. They realise their mistake of judging children from adult point of view and reconcile with each other.

## Cast

* Broto Banerjee as Bodhisattwa Biswas/Bhutu/Bhaijaan
* Tiyasha Pal as Tanuruchi Sen/Chini
* Abhiraj Karan as Ajatshotru Rakshit/Kuchu
* Tanushree Shankar as Principal
* Aparajita Adhya as Arundhati, School Counsellor
* Shiboprosad Mukherjee as Laltu Biswas, Bhutu's father
* Gargi Roychowdhury as Mitali Biswas, Bhutu's mother
* Koneenica Banerjee as Shyamoli Rakshit, Ajatshotru's mother
* Kharaj Mukherjee as Dilip Rakshit - Ajatshotru's father and local councillor
* Masood Akhtar as Chacha jaan
* Sujan Mukhopadhyay as Srinjoy Sen, Chini's father
* Churni Ganguly as Rina Sen, Chini's mother
* Debolina Dutta as Jhumur Paul's mother
* Devlina Kumar as Sohini, Bhutu and Chini's teacher
* Shreyan Bhattacharya in a special appearance as himself

## Soundtrack

The music of the film is directed and composed by Anindya Chatterjee. Bhutu Bhaijan, the song based on Bhutu that became an overnight sensation, was composed by Arindam Chatterjee. All the other songs of the movie were sung by children, which is rare in Bengali cinema. Only a promotional song that is not in the film has been sung by Babul Supriyo. Every song of Haami was released on YouTube and other digital platforms and a special album was also released. The music of Haami also earned Mirchi Best Music Award of the Year (2018).
All lyrics are written by Anindya Chatterjee

## Release and screening

Haami was released on 11 May 2018 and was premiered in Nandan. The film was initially shown in Navina Cinema and a few other halls after it was rejected by seven prime theatres of Kolkata. The movie ran in theatres for 60 consecutive days.

## Awards

* Most Popular film of the year by West Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards(2018)
* Mirchi Best Music Award of the Year(2018)
* Most watched film all time by Hoichoi
- Best Music Album of the year -Best Music Composer of the year - Best Lyricist – Anindya Chatterjee - Best Female Vocalist of the year.- Aruna Das - Best Child Actor - Broto Banerjee