What is Tollylights all about?
The film is based on a novel, Rangeen Prithibi (The Coloured World)by Suchitra Bhattacharjee. Her writing is very cinema-friendly. This novel is about the film industry and that formed another point of attraction. We have simply changed the name and made slight changes needed for a shift from the written word to cinema. The novel journeys into the nooks and corners of show business and explores their reel and real-life stories of film stars, producers, directors, has-beens, failures of the tinsel world that defines the cinema capital of the eastern parts of the country - Tollygunge. The producer and the production house, namely Sudhir Ahuja and Unilux Infoweb Production respectively, are also making their debut into the film world with Tollylights. The novel attracted me for its subtle nuances, those delicate shades of gray between stark blacks and whites, what is unwritten rather than what is written.
What made you choose this novel over others?
I can identify with the characters, the incidents, the struggles and the inter-relationships very closely because I belong to the film world myself. The story revolves around Krishnokoli, an ordinary housewife (Sreelekha Mitra) who steps into films to become a famous star. With stardom, everything in her life changes radically. Her personal life collapses around her as her relationship between her husband and herself, her son and herself break down. She enjoys the fringe benefits of the glamour and the glitz but has to pay a heavy price for it. It is about Tollywood, the struggles of the people who make and inhabit it, their dreams; of those who are in and outside the industry. It deals with their emotional conflicts, motivations and ultimate goals.
Why are film people so drawn towards the film industry as the subject of their films? Rituparno Ghosh is doing it all the time. What’s your take?
I never cease to be fascinated that an actor, who continues to lead an illusory and false life in front of the camera, finds it difficult to slip back into his real life role after a time. This clash between illusion and reality, between fiction and fact, between reel and real life attracted me. I identify with the character I am playing in the film - that of a has-been director. As actors, we are famous, powerful, and glamorous when we are in the limelight. So, when we begin to age, when our demand begins to fall, when we begin to face failure and a drop in our fans and our ratings, we cannot cope with this reality because all along, we felt all this was for real and forever. We are all like Greta Garbo with differences in degree but not in kind. These elements offer a lot of scope for exploring different shades of characterisations, relationships, incidents and events.
You seem to have deliberately avoided casting established stars. Why?
Sreelekha is a very familiar face on television and in films. She is a very talented and committed actress. I did not wish to cast a top star as Krishnokoli because the star-image would have imposed on the character that begins as an ordinary housewife. At the other end, I could not have cast a fresh face because she may not have been as convincing when she becomes a famous star. Arindam Sil who plays Krishnokoli’s husband is also a known face on television and in some films. He is extremely versatile. Barun Chanda who plays a once-famous screen hero now forced into jatra is also not from the top bracket of Tollygunge. He plays the ageing man who Sreelekha lives in with. I chose actors who would be convincing and credible.
You’ve roped in some top stars as well.
That was both easy and necessary since the film deals with the film industry and the people within the industry. Actors like Tapas Paul, Satabdi Roy, Mithun Chakraborty, Abhishek Chatterjee and even Sunny Deol happily stepped into my film to do their bit and I am thrilled.
What about the music?
A film on films must have music. Despite objections from some quarters that advised me not to ask a sarod player to compose the music, I insisted on Tejendra Narayan Majumdar and he has done a brilliant job. The film has five songs with one traced back to the Kanan Bala style of music in the 1940s, another one harking back to the 1960s and so on. As a singer myself with three music album to my credit, music holds special significance for me.
Would it be right to conclude that not having made it to the top as an actor, you fell back on direction?
I have done some very good work as an actor in my time. Maybe, it was not in me to try and make it at any cost so the top spot remained elusive. I have worked with some of the best in the industry. At the back of my mind, I always wanted to direct, not act. Acting happened more by accident than by design. I have put everything into this film. If it flops, I shall take full responsibility for it.