Actor’s cut

Highway, directed by Sudipta Chatterjee, who now lives and works in Mumbai, is based on relationship with a different, post-modern twist to it. I play the title role in Hercules, which is written by Padmanava Dasgupta and directed by the director-duo Sudeshna Roy and Abhijit Guha. It is a powerful statement on the empowerment of a man from vulnerability to strength.

What is your character in Highway?

In Highway, I play Ashwin Kapoor, a suave, sophisticated, brand-conscious young Punjabi brought up in Kolkata. Very conscious of his social status, one could call him a fashionista. He is married to a Bengali girl. The story is about the twists and turns in relationships seen through three dissimilar couples and how they bring the excitement back into their relationships that has entered into a stasis. Ashwin and his wife go through a similar angst. But who is his wife? That is the fun in the story. Ashwin is everything I am not and this became a challenge.

What is different about Hercules?

I have a certain level of comfort working with Sudeshnadi and Abhijitda. My character in Hercules is completely different from my earlier works. The actual name of the man is Harakoilas abbreviated to Haru. He is crude, uneducated, and extremely scared of everything. He lives alone in a dilapidated house in old Kolkata which he has inherited from his parents. But it is a prime property and real estate developers along with their goons are set on making him give up the house. For Haru, it is more than just a house— it is his memories. Hence Haru is not ready to bend. The story maps the journey of this young man from being Haru to Hercules.

So both these films have metaphorical titles?

Highway has a physically concrete meaning because much of the incidents happen on a highway on the way to Darjeeling where the film was shot. But it also signifies the journey of life of people thrown together through marriage, music and many different things. Hercules is a metaphorical title because Haru is not even remotely close to the Grecian mythological character who symbolises everything masculine, carries an olive club as a weapon and wears a lion skin. Haru is attired in striped pyjamas or short pants with a gamcha around his neck. The two characters and films are diametrically opposite so I took them as a challenge.

You have also directed three feature films. How do you keep the director in you at bay when someone else is directing?

I try to remain as detached as I can when someone else is directing me. Sometimes however, when I see a new director grappling with a given sequence, I try to step in with my directorial inputs to salvage the situation, but only with the director’s consent.

What about a second innings in Bollywood?

What ‘second innings’? I have had just two releases; Kahaani that has been a miracle for me as an actor in a different language and Gang of Ghosts which did not do well. But I am now really looking forward to Sujoy Ghosh’s next film and Subhash Saigal’s Yara Sili Sili, a love story where I am paired with Paoli Dam.

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