Bob’s Next Cut

Talking about the difference between the highly popular character of Bob Biswas

that he played earlier,to this brooding and melancholic Nilkantha,Chatterjee says,“After Kahaani,I received a lot of offers for similar roles – from Hindi as well as Bengali filmmakers. But I didn’t want a repeat performance of Bob. I had already worked with Kamaleshwar da in one of his films,so when the offer to play the protagonist in his next came,I readily accepted.” Chatterjee,who has had to shed a large number of pounds to fit into the character of the lean Ghatak,says,“I watched a lot of his films and documentaries to understand his body language. He’s not a very easy man to imitate.”

Directed by Kamaleshwar Mukherjee,who is best known for his critically acclaimed Bengali film Uro Chithi (meaning “an anonymous letter”),the yet untitled film promises to be dark and thought-provoking. “It is not a biopic. We have tried and gone beyond Ghatak’s life and focussed on his social,political and cultural ideologies,” explains Mukherjee.

Shot mostly in West Bengal — Purulia and Kolkata — the film also stars National Award-winning actress Ananya Chatterjee as the protagonist’s wife,Durga . Slated for an October/November release,the film will be in Bengali with English subtitles. So,does the director plan to release it nationally? “Well,that depends on our producers. If we get a good response in West Bengal,a national release can be looked at,” he says.