Prosenjit being bashed up on the Paradip sets; (left) Rambha chilling out on the beach. Pictures by Pradip Sanyal

As the sun beats down on the sandy expanse of the Bay of Bengal dotted with thatched huts, nine in the morning seems well past noon. The dinghies anchored along the beach, the silvery fish lined up for drying and the fishermen?s bustee are all blanched in the heat.

At first glance, the cyclone-ravaged Paradip seems an unlikely spot to shoot a Bengali potboiler, but that?s how far a film crew from Calcutta has come looking for the ?perfect backdrop?.

As the waves lash and roar, Tollywood hero Prosenjit and a stuntman get into a nasty fight, while a Jimmy Jib camera ferried from Chennai cranes its neck, catching ?breathtaking shots? for Bengal?s masses.

After the superhit action drama Pratibad in 2002, Haranath Chakraborty, Shree Venkatesh and Prosenjit have joined hands to try and serve up a blockbuster, tentatively titled Refugee. The trio had earlier engineered Sasurbari Zindabad, one of the highest grossers in Tollywood.

Starring south Indian actress Rambha, Refugee revolves round a family of two brothers and their mother in Bangladesh who are separated during the Partition of Bengal. Having migrated to Bengal, elder son Shiva (Prosenjit) settles down in the port area as a refugee, where he struggles to work his way up ? through the web of thugs, touts and turf tussle. TV actor Rudranil Ghosh plays the ?neurotic and villainous? younger brother who never lets the broken family reunite.

?After the success of Pratibad, Haranath, Shree Venkatesh and I have been planning to make another film again. But we didn?t have a proper storyline,? says Prosenjit, sporting a ruffled look for his part of the protector.

?It?s about a simple man who wants to protect the weak, who protests against injustice and becomes their saviour? It could be the Kidderpore dock area,? elaborates Tollywood?s first man, having tasted box-office success with Nayak after a lull. Neither Raju Uncle nor Swapno, both directed by Haranath with Prosenjit in the lead, could really pull in the people.

With Refugee, Haranath is raring to salvage his reputation of box-office maverick. ?I have tried to experiment with ideas outside the formula in Raju Uncle and Swapno, but they didn?t work. All my audiences want is a good sentimental story and some dose of action. The subject and proper casting add up to make a film successful,? reasons Haranath.

?In action films, heroines don?t have much to do. But in Refugee it?s slightly different. Rambha plays a bar dancer who loves this man who is least bothered about her,? says the director, steering a 200-member crew stationed on the seaside.

A portion of the fishermen?s bustee in Paradip has been cleared to make room for the sets facing the blue Bay. Several fishermen and their families, mostly Telugu, are acting as extras. Those with spare time on their hands have thronged to catch a glimpse of their favourite heroine.

Men, women and children trail Rambha as she walks towards the beach for yet another fight sequence. ?I am from Andhra and they (the people around) see a lot of my Telugu films, so I am their heroine, you know,? she smiles.