Let’s hear about your forthcoming assignments.
I am doing Sir with Kaushik Ganguly, one film with Sandip Ray, one film with Anjan Dutt and a couple of films with Rituparno Ghosh. Among my commercial assignments, there is the recently released Mahakaal. In this film, I play a die-hard Amitabh Bachchan fan. I am trying to concentrate on off-mainstream films. I will wait for the day when I can afford to quit the scene and do just off-mainstream films. I do not know when that day will come. Till then, I will go on acting. That is the only thing I know and cinema is what I live for.
The IIPM tie-up is something not up your street at all. So, how do you respond to this new responsibility?
It is just a realisation of a dream I have been nourishing. It has to do with some business, I could form to diversify my interests. I did not think of IIPM but when Arindam and I got talking, it began to take shape and I asked myself - why not? Maybe I will use my learning for something newer and bigger later. I will start a company to look after the day-to-day affairs of IIPM in Kolkata, trying to work as franchisee for IIPM. I will act as their spokesperson. It is the Prosenjit brand that will promote and market the company. This will need me to attend all IIPM functions. The operational logistics will be taken care-of by my company.
But a B-school has nothing to do with television or films. So what drew you to it?
I was waiting to do something distanced from television and cinema. This came like a blessing in disguise. Some suggested I get into real estate. The idea did not appeal to me. Planman has a very good team. I might not have agreed, if it was some other company. I take this as a challenge. I enjoy challenges.
And what about the audience preferences to films?The division of the audience into big theatres and multiplexes demand different audience compositions. So, new filmmakers are creating films with a niche content to fulfill the demands of the niche audience that dot multiplexes while big banners who are lush with funds continue to make big-budget films with high star value and lavish mounting. One sees a striking change in the Indian audience today. Though this cannot be classified into water-tight compartments as there is considerable blurring and overlapping, the most pleasant experience is that new small-budget producers and directors have virtually created the audience their films need.
Do you find echoes of this change reflected in Bengali cinema?
Happily, some of these positive resonances are heard within the Bengali film industry too. The line that divided cinema into art film and commercial-film, an artificial divide that did not exist has now blurred beyond recognition. Its echoes will soon touch Bengali cinema. Taare Zameen Par touched me deeply. It stands on its own even if one cuts Aamir Khan out of the acting cast. Chak De! India is another example that makes very subtle statements not only on sports, but also on other socially-relevant issues, especially how individuals and groups can and should cope with failure. Vishal Bhardwaj’s Maqbool works for those who might never even have heard of William Shakespeare. Subhash Ghai’s Iqbal is a commercial film. But look at its socially-significant content that zeroes in on individual triumph over natural obstacles. Look at the range the actors have. Saif Ali Khan in Hum Aur Tum and Saif in Omkara are two different individuals. The schisms between the hero and the villain are a thing of the past.
What changes would you like to see in the Hindi film industry in the future?
Indians should stop using “Indian” cinema and “Hindi” cinema as synonymous terms. Indian cinema has a much wider canvas. Filmmakers, producers and directors of Hindi films must interact with technicians, actors, music people from beyond the geographical map –from the South and from East so that the best of skills can be brought together for best results, aesthetically and commercially. This will strengthen regional cinema that is financially weak and Hindi cinema too will gain in strength.
How do you keep upgrading yourself?
I am studying how my seniors have handled the transition from hero to character actor, beginning with Uttam Kumar through Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and Soumitra Chatterjee. I am trying to learn how they responded to change. I wish to make my transition from Mr. Funtoosh to Swapner Din complete. No actor in Mumbai is willing to be trapped in any fixed image. If Ajay Devgan is a hero in one film, he is the villain in another. This goes for everyone from Akshay Kumar to Sanjay Dutt. That is what cinema is all about. That is what cinema should be all about.
