Why So Serious? Jisshu & Saurav Launch Production House
With plans to produce films in Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam, as well as OTT content and music videos, Jishu and Saurav launch ‘Why So Serious’.
Ah, Poila Baishakh — a time for new beginnings, mouthfuls of mishti, and the unavoidable clinking of tea cups over resolutions that last as long as a Sandesh in a Bengali household. But this year, the Bengali New Year brought with it something a little more… cinematic. Enter stage left: Jisshu Sengupta and Saurav Das, who have unveiled their very own production house, cheekily christened Why So Serious — which, judging by the name, promises not your average run-of-the-mill, melodrama-mongering venture, but rather, a right old cocktail of creativity and cheek.
Their Instagram debut was as dramatic as a Satyajit Ray close-up. “Not Just Another Production House. A State Of Mind,” they declared — equal parts bold, baffling, and bang on-brand. And if that didn’t raise enough eyebrows to challenge the Kolkata Book Fair on opening day, Bollywood’s very own Mahesh Bhatt has hopped on board as collaborator-in-chief. Yes, that Mahesh Bhatt. Talk about pulling a rabbit out of a Tollywood hat.
According to whispers in the wings (also known as media reports), Why So Serious is planning to spread its wings across Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam cinema. In other words, it’s going to be more multilingual than a Kolkata taxi driver trying to negotiate with a tourist from Chennai.
And it doesn’t stop at films. Oh no. They’re also diving head-first into OTT content and music videos — presumably the kind that makes you question everything, from your last relationship to why you still haven’t cancelled your subscription to that one app that only plays Bhojpuri karaoke at 2am.
Jisshu, no stranger to slipping behind the camera, previously directed the reality show Shonge Srijit, featuring the ever-eloquent Srijit Mukherji as host, and guests like Prosenjit Chatterjee and Rituparna Sengupta, all bantering away like old chums at a cha-er dokan (that’s tea stall, for the uninitiated).
Meanwhile, Saurav Das has been rather busy himself, turning up in projects like Girgiti, Grihostho and Paashbaalish — titles which sound suspiciously like either avant-garde thrillers or the names of long-lost mishti recipes.
The duo’s announcement was met with hearty applause from their contemporaries, with actor Ankush Hazra leading the virtual ovation. Sharing a poster that looked like it had enough charisma to power a Durga Pujo pandal, Ankush wrote, “Congratulations Rockstars… Looking forward to some great content… And plz consider me in at least one.. love u guys keep rocking.” Subtlety clearly not invited to this party.
Let’s not forget that Ankush himself launched his own production house, Ankush Hazra Motion Pictures, back in August 2022. It’s almost as if everyone’s setting up production houses now — one more and we might need a separate Ministry of Motion Picture Startups.
On the work front, Jisshu was last seen in the Netflix thriller Dabba Cartel, alongside stalwarts like Shabana Azmi and Jyothika, proving once again that he can swing from Bengali heartthrob to international streaming star without so much as loosening his collar. Saurav, for his part, has kept things spicy with a roster of roles that scream versatility — or, at the very least, a refusal to be pigeonholed.
So, here’s raising a metaphorical glass (or at the very least, a mishti doi) to Why So Serious — a venture that promises to be part film factory, part fever dream, and wholly entertaining. Whether it ends up being a roaring success or a glorious mess, one thing’s for sure: they’ve already got the title for the biopic sorted.
After all, in a world full of clichés, Why So Serious might just be the punchline we didn’t know we needed.
What's Your Reaction?
