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{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Chatrak
| caption =
| image = Chatrak_film_poster.png
| director = [[Vimukthi Jayasundara]]
| producer = [[Vinod Lahoti]]
| writer =
| starring = {{ubl|[[Paoli Dam]]|[[Sudip Mukherjee]]|[[Tómas Lemarquis]]}}
| music = [[Roman Dymmy]]
| cinematography = Channa Deshapriya
| editing = Julie Beziau
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|2011|05|18|Cannes}}
| runtime = 90 minutes
| country = [[India]]
| language = [[Bengali language|Bengali]]
| budget =
}}

'''''Chatrak''''' ({{langx|en|Mushrooms}}) is a 2011 [[India]]n [[Bengali language|Bengali]] [[erotic films|erotic]] [[drama film]] directed by [[Sri Lanka]]n director [[Vimukthi Jayasundara]].<ref name="Women on top">{{cite news|title=Women on top|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120624/jsp/graphiti/story_15648283.jsp#.UBs9ROJ5MxA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628003505/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120624/jsp/graphiti/story_15648283.jsp#.UBs9ROJ5MxA|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 June 2012|accessdate=3 August 2012|newspaper=[[The Telegraph (Calcutta)|The Telegraph]]|date=24 June 2012}}</ref> It was screened at several film festivals worldwide, including the [[Directors' Fortnight]] at the [[2011 Cannes Film Festival]].

==Plot==
Rahul (Sudeep Mukherjee) is a Bengali architect working at construction sites in [[Dubai]]. He returns home to [[Kolkata]] after several years. His girlfriend, Paoli ([[Paoli Dam]]), has been waiting for his return.

Rahul's seemingly successful life is overshadowed by the search for his brother (Sumeet Thakur), said to now be mad and living in the forest, where he sleeps in the trees and subsists on vegetation. This brother befriends a French soldier in the jungle. Rahul and Paoli journey in search of his lost brother.<ref name="cannes syn">{{cite web|url=http://www.quinzaine-realisateurs.com/chatrak-f14273.html|title=Chatrak|last=Mirguet|first=Benjami|work=quinzaine-realisateurs.com|publisher=Société des Réalisateurs de Films|accessdate=3 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120000110/http://www.quinzaine-realisateurs.com/chatrak-f14273.html|archive-date=20 November 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The story involves people who are expropriated for construction projects.

==Cast==
* [[Paoli Dam]] as Paoli
* [[Sudip Mukherjee]] as Rahul
* [[Tómas Lemarquis]] as French soldier
* Sumeet Thakur as Rahul's brother
* [[Anubrata Basu]] as Anubrata

==Production==
[[Paoli Dam]] admitted that the scene in which she receives unsimulated cunnilingus by Anubrata Basu was difficult for her. "Well, the fact that nobody from Tollywood or Bollywood has ever done something like this and I had no reference point. I didn’t know how to prepare for the scene," she said.<ref>{{cite web |title='Yes, I was completely nude' |work=www.telegraphindia.com |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/entertainment/yes-i-was-completely-nude/cid/345530 |access-date=4 August 2022}}</ref>

==Release and screenings==
''Chatrak'' was screened at film festivals like the prestigious [[Directors' Fortnight]] in the [[2011 Cannes Film Festival]],<ref name="screen list">{{cite web|url=http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/cannes/cannes-2011-film-profiles-directors-fortnight-and-critics-week/5027035.article|title=Cannes 2011 film profiles: Directors Fortnight & Critics Week|date=6 May 2011|accessdate=2 August 2012|work= Screen International}}</ref><ref name="Paoli Cannes do it">{{cite news|title=Paoli Cannes do it|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110917/jsp/entertainment/story_14515875.jsp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202224118/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110917/jsp/entertainment/story_14515875.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 December 2013|accessdate=3 August 2012|newspaper=The Telegraph |date=17 September 2011}}</ref> the [[2011 Toronto International Film Festival]] and the [[Pacific Meridian]] film festival in [[Vladivostok]], Russia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-18/news-interviews/29900195_1_chatrak-paoli-toronto-international-film-festival|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203023104/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-18/news-interviews/29900195_1_chatrak-paoli-toronto-international-film-festival|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 December 2013|title=Paoli at Toronto International Film Fest|last=Dasgupta|first=Priyanka|date=18 August 2011|work=[[The Times of India]]|accessdate=3 August 2012}}</ref>

It has not received a theatrical release.

==Reception==
''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' commented on ''Mushrooms'' that, "The film's abstract naturalism does create an austere portrait of a crass and careless human society but any larger meaning gets lost amid the film's many non-events and preening nihilism."<ref name="hollywood">{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/mushrooms-chatrak-cannes-2011-review-190234|title=Mushrooms (Chatrak): Cannes 2011 Review|last=Honeycutt |first=Kirk|date=19 May 2011|accessdate=3 August 2012|work=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref> The ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' review noted the "extremely slow-burning story", saying, "... the main element uniting Jayasundara's plot strands is a sense of torpor..."<ref name="variety">{{cite web|url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117945364?refcatid=2531|title=Cannes Reviews: Chatrak|work=Variety|date=31 May 2011|accessdate=3 August 2012|last= van Houij|first=Boyd }}</ref> A review in the online film magazine ''Notebook'' praised the film, noting that it artistically portrays "...Cinematic dreams and nightmares, visible intuitions of the world around, visual understanding of what corruption of the society and corruption of the soul can do."<ref name="notebook">{{cite web|url=http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/cannes-2011-snapshots-vimukthi-jayasundaras-chatrak|title=Cannes 2011. Snapshots: Vimukthi Jayasundara's "Chatrak"|last=Duhamel|first=Marie-Pierre|work=Notebook|publisher=[[MUBI]]|date=19 May 2011|accessdate=3 August 2012}}</ref> ''[[Sight & Sound]]'' of the [[British Film Institute]] praised it, stating "Disconcerting though the plot may at least initially be, the film has its wild as well as some comic moments that soon win the viewer over."<ref name="bfi">{{cite web|url=http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/newsandviews/festivals/blog/cannes-2011-05-20-moon-in-may.php|title=Cannes 2011: The S&S blog|accessdate=3 August 2012|work=Sight & Sound|publisher=British Film Institute|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211155256/http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/newsandviews/festivals/blog/cannes-2011-05-20-moon-in-may.php|archive-date=11 February 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Controversy==
A scene in ''Chatrak'' with explicit frontal nudity caused uproar in India, especially in [[Kolkata]], where the film was mainly shot.<ref name="Vats">{{cite web|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/is-chatrak-the-boldest-film-ever-made-in-india/184437-8-73.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110923144728/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/is-chatrak-the-boldest-film-ever-made-in-india/184437-8-73.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 September 2011|title=Is 'Chatrak' the boldest film ever made in India?|last=Vats|first=Rohit|date=12 October 2011|work=The Times of India|accessdate=3 August 2012}}</ref><ref name="axed">{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/regional/news-interviews/Paoli-axed-from-movie-promos/articleshow/9989892.cms|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140118063149/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-15/news-interviews/30159319_1_paoli-vimukthi-kolkata-film-festival|url-status=live|archive-date=18 January 2014|title=Paoli axed from movie promos|last=Dasgupta|first=Priyanka|date=15 September 2011|work=[[The Times of India]]|access-date=3 August 2012}}</ref><ref name="iv vimukti">{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/regional/news-interviews/Ill-cast-Paoli-in-my-next-Vimukti-Jayasundara-/articleshow/10026970.cms|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205103753/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-18/news-interviews/30171879_1_nude-scene-cannes-chatrak|url-status=live|archive-date=5 December 2013|title=I'll cast Paoli in my next: Vimukti Jayasundara|date=18 September 2011|access-date=3 August 2012|last=Dasgupta|work=[[The Times of India]]|first=Priyanka}}</ref> A version without the sexually explicit scene was arranged to be shown in the 2011 [[Kolkata Film Festival]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/regional/news-interviews/Kolkata-spared-Chatrak-blushes/articleshow/10167055.cms|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201180056/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-29/news-interviews/30217512_1_kolkata-film-festival-chatrak-paoli|url-status=live|archive-date=1 February 2014|title=Kolkata spared Chatrak blushes|last=Dasgupta|first=Priyanka|date=29 September 2011|work=[[The Times of India]]|access-date=3 August 2012}}</ref>

Director Jayasundara admitted that there are several versions of ''Chatrak'', and some do not contain the sex scene. He also admitted that he was surprised to witness negative feedback due to the inclusion of such sex scene in his film.<ref name="iv vimukti"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|1922569|Mushrooms}}

{{Vimukthi Jayasundara}}
[[Category:2011 films]]
[[Category:Indian erotic drama films]]
[[Category:2010s erotic drama films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Vimukthi Jayasundara]]
[[Category:Films set in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Films shot in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Bengali-language Indian films]]
[[Category:2011 Bengali-language films]]
[[Category:2011 drama films]]
[[Category:Obscenity controversies in film]]
[[Category:2011 controversies]]
[[Category:Films about immigration]]
[[Category:Films set in Dubai]]
[[Category:Films about mental disorders]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of French people]]
[[Category:Films set in forests]]

Chatrak - Revision history

TKMD at 00:22, 4 March 2026