Shootout at Kolkata

Since the scenes had to be on real locations,it was Vidya’s idea to shoot inside a tram as Kolkata is synonymous with trams. Explains the director,“I was really happy that Vidya was coming up with ideas. I liked her involvement. So as per her suggestion,we shot this scene at Chitpur in Kolkata inside a real tram. In the sequence,she finds an address where she can get a hint of her husband’s whereabouts. So she takes a tram to reach the place. It was crowded and people were excited to see Vidya as their co-passenger.” But the crowd did not affect the shoot as,according to the filmmaker,Vidya was the one who would control the public. Ghosh confirms,“Vidya is a true crowd controller. She knows how to handle people. Whenever the situation would go out-of-hand,we would call Vidya. She would talk to the people and bring in some stability.” The scene between Vidya and the police officer,played by Parambrata Chatterjee,has no dialogues. The entire shot is based on expressions.

In the second scene,she is accompanied by the same policeman and they decide to look for her husband in the city’s morgues. Narrates the director,“This scene was shot right outside the Metro Pole hotel in Kolkata. Since we were shooting right in the middle of the road,there were too many people around. But again,Vidya took charge to interact with them. Also,the costumes designed by Sabyasachi made her look like a typical Bengali,so the crowd would connect with her.”

The director claims that Vidya was the captain of their ship. He,in fact,had to bear the brunt of her anger whenever he used to light a cigarette on the sets. “Vidya is a strict disciplinarian. She shouted at me several times on the sets,whether I was smoking a cigarette or just fooling around with my crew,” he said.

Last September,the team also shot in a place called Kumartuli where Maa Durga idols are made. Since it was shot during Durga Puja,in the photograph, artists carving idols of the goddess can be seen. “It was quite tough to shoot at this place. As the floor was filled with mud and water,it was slippery. In fact,Vidya actually slipped while doing her scene but it helped her to give a natural expression,” he said. Apart from this,the director also narrated an incident that kept the shooting on hold. He said,“Vidya is very religious and a firm believer in god. This place had a lot of idols,so every time she saw an idol she would bow down and start praying. There was a point when she bowed for nearly 20 minutes at a stretch.”