It has been more than two decades that Prosenjit Chatterjee stepped into the Bengali film industry. With over 300 films in his kitty, he looks forward to venturing into direction soon. He tells Team Viva that Bengali films are not projected or marketed the way they should be
What Rajnikant is to the south, Prosenjit Chatterjee is to Bengal. There’s more to them than just their popularity – both belong to Tollywood (the South Indian film industry and the Bengali film industry). For us, who have grown up seeing Chatterjee jumping off buildings, beating up the ‘bad guys’ or delivering that oh-so-touching emotional dialogue, it was beyond comprehension that he would choose to walk out of an air conditioned hall into the open air. ‘I do not like being in an AC room for long,’ he said as he settled at one of the stairs outside the Stein Auditorium at India Habitat Centre, much to our surprise. As we sat down next to him, he casually lit a cigarette and puffed out in relief. ‘I have been travelling a lot lately,’ he said as we sat in awe, thinking to ourselves how real the man in front of us looked. But then he is into slice-of-life films these days and developing the artiste in him.
In a very candid chat, he shared how he had to break out of the shadow of his star father Biswajit to carve a niche of his own and how he wants to helm the Bengal film industry as a team player and expand its market nationally and internationally.
Many Bengalis living abroad, who left Kolkata long time ago, probably started watching Bengali films post-Rituparno Ghosh. What is your perception about the way films are being received by Bengalis everywhere nowIJ Has it added a dimension to your stardomIJ
Stardom is what I got when I was very young. At around 18 or 19, I got my jubilees. At 21 I had given a hit which ran for 75 weeks. People till today say that I had a lot of hunger which made me come out of the typical stardom. For a mainstream actor who had been listening to his gurus and had the audience throw coins at the filmscreen after a great film screening; to move from that zone to another while keeping your brand intact as a star was taxing.
I always felt that Bengali cinema has to reach a wider audience but I used to think it is not happening the way we want it to. But we all did come out from the Bengali culture, it worked but then again I thought that we should go back to that Bengali era of films. Today you do a film like Autograph and Baishe Srabon, you need to do with a star. But Rituparno Ghosh’s perception was very clear. A lot of people had asked him why have you cast Prosenjit in Unishe April. You could have roped in a theatre artiste.
Why did Rituparno cast you in a major roleIJ
Because he always wanted to. His plan was not to have a mainstream iconic actress or actor. You have to get the audience inside and then you show whether it’s a good film or not. Honestly, when I did Chokher Bali, I used to walk in a village and there were many local people involved. Even when Aishwarya and I stood in the crowd with them, they failed to notice us, They would ask ‘Where is Prosenjit’.
When did you start getting selective about the characters you createdIJ
There was a time when I used to chart out two films together and both of them ran for weeks on end. At that time, I used to say and believe in one thing that it is wiser to reject a role before audience start rejecting you. Mainstream acting is make believe, it is like Phantom, you cannot allude it all the time. I realised quite early that you cannot do a particular role throughout your life. There is no way I can do an Amar Sangi (his blockbuster movie) at this age. Now I am in a space where I do films for myself. There have been times where I have not done a single film in a year but again I have had three releases in a year. It majorly depends on the film and whether I would be able to enjoy it. This way I not only give some space to my creativity but also to myself.
You mentioned that there cannot be a division like mainstream and parallel, there can only be good or bad cinema. When you were doing those so called bad films, there must have been a take away. When you did folk jatra or shows in the countryside there must have been something you learnt during that phase.
Those films created Prosenjit Chatterjee and that brand has kept me alive for more than two decades. Till today, believe me, people in the suburbs are more crazy about me in comparison to new heroes, who interestingly dance to the songs made popular by me. I trained in new forms of dance and action. I used to be compared to Jeetendra or Rishi Kapoor. People looked at me and saw a romantic hero — perhaps it was because of my height or because I looked like my father — but I had to break away from that and become an action hero.
Was it difficult to come out from the image of your father (renowned actor Biswajit)IJ Was that an impediment, was it irritating at timesIJ How did you break out of itIJ
My first challenge was that I had to take out my father from me. When I started off in the industry as a romantic hero, everybody started saying that I looked so much like my father — that I talk and walk like him and also deliver lines like him. That I cannot help, that is in my genes. I cannot come out of it. But today, people copy my voice, heroes copy my style of walking or may be my dance moves.
I purposely had to fight to take out my father's image from myself and create one for myself. Earlier, I could not help it but now when I go to a show and greet people, they marvel. It is because I created my own voice and my own brand of style and delivering dialogues.
When you talk of a generation before you, like your father’s or generation subsequent to that, each hero has a distinctive personality and talent. Then you rose to the challenge and set a school of thought.
The younger generation of actors tend to mirror you. Do you ever, as a mentor, tell them the need to develop their own craft, personality and skill so that they do not seem like your clonesIJ
They have to set their own identity. I always tell them that they have to create their own brand. What generally happens in Bangla cinema is that, we tend to look up to the actors who defined acting in their times. like if I had to do a romantic role, I automatically looked at Uttam Kumar — how he behaved, conducted himself and his plus points. That is like a lesson for us. But at the end of the day, I never wanted to be him. So, I created my own brand and this is exactly what I tell the young actors today. You should take the good thing from your senior but you also should sideline and develop your own personality.
They don’t tend to do that sometimes…
It takes time. Dev (actor) is trying his best to do a lot of different things. He has his flaws but he is giving his best shot. May be a few years down the line he might develop into something very good. The boys are trying.
What are your earliest film inspiration because you say that you had the hunger to become an artiste. When there is a hunger, there is usually something up in front of you which you cherish and which makes you want to go there. What fuelled this hunger as an artisteIJ
There are plenty but believe me, one day I realised that maybe I have got everything — people know me, I have stardom and I have a volume of films — maybe there will be a time when my son will be in his early 20s and would want to study films and learn what cinema is all about. And, of course, he will want to know what his father had done. At that time if he goes through that library, he will realise that his father had fame and money but will also come to know the kind of work his father had done. So then, my 20 years of acting will go to a different level. I should at least do some work so that at that point of time when he grows up and try to be a film student, he can get at least pick five films and say that my father had also done this.
There was this one when he was returning from Rashbehari and had crossed Priya cinema hall, where Moner Manush was being screened. He came back and told my wife Arpita that there was a huge line outside the theatre. She explained to him that normally, his dad’s films are always a crowd puller. But for me, that a film like Moner Manush also found similar appeal was something I did not expect.
What made you become an actorIJ Was it the burden of legacy or was it a natural choiceIJ
It was neither. Honestly, I started doing theatre when I was around 16 or 17. I had to start acting at an early age because of a lot of family problems. I had to take up responsibility at a very early age — at a time when boys would normally play around. So, that was one reason that I had to start doing plays and shows. And then I took it very seriously. I started off doing all sorts of side roles because I had to support my family. I started doing small roles like that of a villain or a playboy. From there to becoming a hero, it was difficult.
Why did you feel the need to go to BombayIJ Was it easier or was it the financial factorIJ
I was never serious about Hindi cinema, not even today. Otherwise I could have done Maine Pyaar Kiya because those films were offered to me. I was doing a Bengali film Mandira. One evening Pahlaj ji (Nihalani) came and said, ‘You are such a good actor Bumba (his nickname) so why don’t you do a Hindi film’. Before I could think about it, he sat with me, called up David Dhawan, arranged the set up and started the movie. I never wanted to be there. And it was the same with Dibakar Banerjee. He came thrice to Kolkata to convince me for the role of Dr Ahmadi. The only doubt I had was why does he want to cast me but was very particular about what he wanted and he said, ‘I can’t see anybody else in that role.’ He made me agree to it. I never had this notion that I have to leave everything and make a mark in Bollywood.
Now, I am a little serious about National work but not for money, honestly speaking. The new directors in Bombay are familiar with my work and have seen a few of my recent works. Whenever they meet me they ask me to come over and work with them. Now, if a do a Hindi movie, I do not have to challenge Shah Rukh Khan which might have been the case 10 years ago. At the end of the day, ten producers in Bengal are investing in me and saying that, ‘He’s our superstar’. I cannot deny them and go to another industry and fail. I will lose the credibility and will also those people who have loved me for decades. But now, yes, I can go and do some offbeat roles because I am not challenging anybody.
You mentioned that may be the mechanism is not right when we are marketing Bengali films. What really is the problem because there was a time when Kolkata had these big studios driving the businessIJ Where are the studios standing today, and what is the corporate involvementIJ What exactly is the funding problem in the Bengali film industryIJ
I think the studio concept was in theatres, places where Prithviraj and Raj Kapoor came out. That time the studio was not the way it is today. My observation is pretty simple. I am not trying to blame but we Bengalis are happy with the intellect part of the content. If you talk about Satyajit Ray or Ritwik Ghatak, yes international people have seen their work but after them there have been plenty of directors.
The kind of approach the South Indian industry or regional cinema has is to go out from their own zone and project their films. That has never happened with Bengali cinema, honestly. Nobody had tried to project Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen on the National level and the question is whyIJ
What happened in the south was that if a movie was a hit, it was remade with Bollywood actors with Dilip Kumar or Biswajit or Jeetendra. That never happened with us. We were more insular and so we couldn’t reach the market properly.
There are a lot of corporate getting into Bengali cinema since the last ten years like Reliance, Zee and even Eros is coming in. Things are rolling but right now, it needs to be more focussed. Now content is 70 to 80 per cent much better than what was. There was a time when even Bengalis used to say that movies are not working but now they are excited about a Bengali film. We really need to focus on the market. I believe marketing can be only done when big platforms like Eros and Reliance are on board and it is not because they are from Bombay but because they have their system ready throughout the world.
The reason why the scenario in Mumbai changed was because of the involvement of all the corporate. They do not deal just for funding they try to make the perception as well. These corporate houses are venturing into the south and want to expand to Bengali cinema too but our market is still very low. We do not look for marketing.
Why don’t we have international marketingIJ like Hindi films go to China, Japan and Busan…
My film Jaatishwar was one such film which was screened in Singapore and it ran for about six to eight weeks. Sixty to 70 per cent of the audience comprised of locals. It was because the movie had the Antony Firingi context, people wanted to watch that Indian culture. If they can watch a Hindi films like Subhash Ghai’s Taal then why not watch a Bengali filmIJ For them, language is not a problem because they have subtitles.
Since we are talking about new talent, a lot of new filmmakers are doing good work and following Rituparno Ghosh’s footsteps. They have dared to dream a little differently. Do you feel that in this rush to be different, there is a lot of technology entering into filmmaking like smart editing, frames, cuts, time progressionIJ
Everything has a positive and a negative side. Once a technology has developed, every director wants to utilise it. Sometimes that overpowers the story or the subject. But there’s a difference in it, too. Good directors use it tactfully and that is why we talk about Rituparno or Goutam Ghosh. Sometimes the subject is good but the technical aspects are so dominating that the point is lost. With digitisation, it has become easier to take multiple shots but the quality degrades. When we did Dosar, we did not have the luxury of retakes. We finished the film in 35 reels. And given that the movie was in black and white, it was more expensive than colour reels. Ritu da must have used it as a metaphor that nothing is black and white in life; at the end it's all grey. And I think I was the only actor in the film who started off in black and white.
I think that technology is very important but at the same time you have to know how to balance it. See for example the movie Bela Seshe. It was not a very well executed movie but it puts the point across and the story touches your heart.
Any plans of becoming a directorIJ
That is by final and biggest challenge. I always challenge myself. It's like I push myself to do thing I was unable to do in the past. That is the way I go. May be in another 10 years I will do three or four films may be Bengali or Hindi and I will be trying to do Hindi films. I want to take successful Bengali films and give them a National focus. And I do not want to do films like Prabhudeva, I will do movies which we are capable of delivering nicely.
What are the other movies that you seeIJ
Films are my bread and butter and I watch every kind of movies.
Has the consciousness of regional cinema increased in the minds of the national audienceIJ Has the perception changedIJ
Yes, Punjabi films are doing well. Earlier they used to make small budget films but their budget has increased.
photo Sanjeev Kumar