Gourab Chatterjee and Sreya Pande. Pictures by Rashbehari Das

Amar Shopno Tumi is like any another Tollywood potboiler. And it would have missed all the attention but for its lead pair. The male protagonist is the grandson of the Mahanayak of Bengali films. The female lead is the daughter of a politician and a well-known face in the city modelling circuit. Now, Gourab Chatterjee and Sreya Pande pair up for this Prabir Ghosh film to go on the floors next month.

Gourab has every reason to be nervous before his first shot. ?It is very difficult to be in my shoes. The legacy that I carry can both work in my favour or be detrimental. The expectations and the comparison are both very obvious,? says Gourab.

Adds the grandson of Uttam Kumar: ?He was the screen demi-god. But do not forget that when he started acting he was not the Mahanayak. He also worked his way up. I hope that the industry and the audience give me that much space and time to grow.?

Gourab has just passed his ISC from La Martiniere this year. ?Amar Shopno Tumi has got the romantic touch of the Seventies. I play a boy who is madly in love with this girl,? is all that Gourab is willing to divulge.

While all the attention is on Gourab, the female lead could just prove to be the dark horse. Sreya Pande, who is busy appearing for her BBA Part I exams, is all excited about facing the arclights next month.

?I can?t wait to get in front of the camera,? says Sreya, used to the spotlight on the ramp, having modelled for the past two years. ?I always wanted to get into movies. Modelling was just a stepping stone,? says Sreya.

Her first film is yet to can a single shot, but the youngster is already looking beyond Bengal. She claims to have already bagged a Bollywood biggie co-starring Sanjay Dutt no less. ?I have been offered the movie and I want to do it also. But I have not heard the script properly,? says Sreya, planning a trip to Mumbai at the end of the week to take her Bollywood ambition a step further.

?I would not do the movie if I am not given the female lead. After all, it is the beginning of my career and I do not want to start off with smaller roles,? says Sreya, already mouthing off-screen lines of a seasoned pro.

The Bollywood project may still be iffy, but the Tollywood role is shaping up just the way she wants it to. ?I play a girl just out of college. She is very traditional and yet ambitious,? reveals Sreya.

And what about the all-important issue of skin show? ?See, if one is comfortable with her body, she can even carry off a bikini. But in this movie I am playing a girl who is an Indian at heart and most of the time is in traditional clothes,? smiles Sreya.