Sabyasachi Chakraborty and Rituparna Sengupta shoot for Piyalir Password in Maryland

In 2004, I went to the US to shoot for the film Piyalir Password, directed by US-based Raj Basu. It was his debut film and is yet to release. The four main actors were Roopa Ganguly, Rituparna Sengupta, Koushik Sen and me.

We wanted to shoot in proper Washington but were not allowed due to security reasons. So, we shot in and around Maryland.

To shoot in America, you need the permission of the American Screen Actors’ Guild. Now, they had a problem with the four lead roles of an “American film” going to actors outside America.

According to the Guild’s rules, 50 per cent of the lead actors of a film made in the US have to be from America.

Raj had a tough time convincing them that Piyalir Password revolved around a bunch of Bengalis. He had also cast seven to eight American actors. Finally, Raj had to show Roopa and Rituparna as the two principal actors, since the story hinged on their characters, and Koushik and me as supporting actors. Only then did the clearance come for our visas.

In Maryland, we got busy shooting and I got little time to explore the place. But we got a feel of the beautiful fall season while filming outdoors. The forests wore a bright orange look and the ground was covered with yellow leaves.

I got a day off and made the most of it, checking out Annapolis in Maryland, with my brother-in-law who lives there.

Annapolis is America’s sailing capital; we dropped into the US Naval Academy. We took a boat ride and I spotted some beautiful yachts.

I wondered if we could take one or two yachts to the Sunderbans. The only possible outcome of that could be fishing boats turning turtle under their impact!

After wrapping up my shoot, I came to Houston before leaving for India. I was checking into my hotel when the hotel manager stopped me. He said he suspected me of being a bank robber who had been on the run for the past few days! The harassment went on for a few minutes before my team turned up and came to my rescue. The manager apologised profusely.

(Next week: Feluda on a bus trip to San Francisco)