City Scape

He may be coming down to the city to shoot his “umpteenth Kolkata project” (this time he is shooting a hair oil advertisement with Rituparna Sengupta) but Pradeep Sarkar (of Parineeta and Laaga Chunari Mein Daag fame) has Mumbai in his mind. “My next project will show a very gritty,unapologetic Mumbai of today,” says Sarkar whose loving portrayal of 1960s Kolkata in Parineeta won over many hardcore Kolkatans. “I try and make the city a character in my films. In Parineeta I needed to create a mood befitting the story,which is why 1960s Kolkata was prefect. I tried my best to capture the glamour of the city I was growing up in. Similarly,Laaga Chunari… was about Benares and its textures. My next film demands the canvas of Mumbai,” says Sarkar. Yet,he will most “definitely come back to Kolkata” with a film project soon. “There are so many aspects of the city I want to explore. I can make a series of films on it,” says Sarkar.

The yet untitled film will star Neil Nitin Mukesh and Deepika Padukone. This is the first time that they have been paired together. “I needed a fresh pair as the film is also a love story,” claims Sarkar.

The film claims Sarkar,will be a departure from his usual languid style of storytelling.

“It’s a very gritty script and I want to adopt a very easy style of filmmaking for this one. You can say that I’m trying to be younger with this one,” laughs Sarkar. Like Laaga Chunari… this film too will be produced by Yash Raj Productions.