TWO’S COMPANY
ACTORS PROSENJIT CHATTERJEE AND RAIMA SEN TALK ABOUT THEIR FORTHCOMING EROTIC THRILLER KHAWTO.
Q. Khawto’s being marketed as an erotic thriller. That seems quite a change for both of you.
Raima I have never done such a film before and moreover such bold topics aren’t even common in Bengali films. I play Prosenjit's wife in the film. He’s a writer and she’s intellectually an equal. She has a voice of her own and is quite independent even though she’s also a mother. I think even he (points to Prosenjit) hasn’t done such a role before.
Prosenjit Yes the erotic thriller tag isn’t common in Bengali cinema or even Indian cinema. There were always lots of novels and books with erotic content or showing adultery.
Q. Is it easier to do this in Bengali because there is this image of Bengalis being liberal and more permissive?
Prosenjit I think today’s audience has changed. They watch and have access to world cinema at the click of a button. So it’s high time that we were able to make films with erotic content. It’s always been there in Bengali literature.
Q. Any particular work that comes to mind?
Prosenjit A lot of Buddhadeb
Guha's work and writer Shankar’s Samrat o Sundari has adult content. Even Chokher Bali written by Tagore had a very adult subject. Saheb Bibi Golam too deals with adultery. Shankar’s Samrat o Sundari ran for 1,500 days as a play. Another play Bar Bodhu with similar content ran for 2,000 nights, I am told. It was always there but just not as cinema. I remember when I did Baishe Srabon people talked about me using so much slang. But that became its USP.
Q. What made you comfortable doing a film that would be talked about and presented as an erotic thriller?
Raima I don’t have any scenes I’d be uncomfortable doing. Prosenjit The way we shot, it wasn’t uncomfortable. Haan, I did Chokher Bali, it had a huge...(pauses). Raima Yes, a...lovemaking scene Prosenjit Yes that scene was talked about not just in Bengal but across the country and many said it was one of the best lovemaking scenes shot on the screen. It was quite bold. We are all professionals here. When we know the topic, obviously we are open to certain things. I also had a long kissing scene in Shanghai with Kalki Koechlin. It was a 12 minute sequence. Those things are not underlined for us. We know what we have to do and come and do it.
Q. Raima, I believe co-star (Paoli Dam) in the film is playing a character inspired by Suchitra Sen, your grandmother, in another work by the same director (the TV series Mahanayak)? Raima (laughs) As actors we play a lot of characters and roles. She does have a lot of resemblance to Suchitra Sen.
Q. You’ve seen your grandmother up close and personal. Does Paoli do her character justice?
Raima Yes people do say that she looks that way when she dresses like her. But not in real life. They, of course, are completely different people. You can’t compare. And she was one of a kind.
Prosenjit And of course the fact that Paoli is portraying a younger Suchitra that Raima never saw. Also this isn’t a biopic of any real person. It’s fictional. It’s been dedicated to the golden era of Bengali cinema and you can’t make it without having those stars, that kind of music and Hemant Kumar.
Raima Yes she tried to imitate her to the best, but you can’t compare.
Prosenjit Even I wasn’t exactly trying to copy Uttam Kumar. But even if you see Autograph and this you will realise that there is a huge difference in the characteristic of the then superstar. If you see my father (Biswajit Chatterjee), or Soumitra Chatterjee or Uttam Kumar, they will not sit like this and give an interview.
Q. You have both been exposed to that world when people were in awe of your mother/ father/ grandmother while you’re much accessible as actors who are active on social media. Now, fans can even put their arm around you while taking a selfie.
Raima My grandmother wouldn’t approve of it. She didn't like me mixing with everybody and social media does exactly that.
Prosenjit I have seen both worlds. I used to get letters in blood and sindur, and there used to be a team who’d have pictures printed of me with details about films and would send it to the fans. Today I have a team to manage my 16 lakh fans on Facebook. The medium has changed but not the system.
Q. But is it too close for comfort?
Raima The time and generation has changed and you can’t help it.
Prosenjit I prescribe the middle path. I am active on Twitter. I believe in being frank but that aura and mystery is necessary. And some things have to be personal. I don’t want pictures of Laxmi puja performed in my house being made public.
Raima The world is changing. The more you post on social media, the more fans you have. Look at Kim Kardashian. She put her entire life on display.
MAKING AN EROTIC THRILLER AND NOT DOING CERTAIN THINGS IN THIS DAY AND AGE IS JUST SILLY. I REMEMBER WHEN I DID BAISHE SRABON PEOPLE TALKED ABOUT ME USING SO MUCH SLANG. BUT THAT BECAME ITS USP.