Rituparna Sengupta is working round the clock, dividing her time between shoots and her work as a producer Pix: Rashbehari Das

What do movie stars Prosenjit Chatterjee and Rituparna Sengupta have in common? The most obvious answer is that they are the highly successful first couple of Tollywood who’ve made more than 50 movies together. But the two now have something else in common: they are both going behind the screens, changing costumes and coming back in new incarnations as producers.

They aren’t the only ones who’ve figured that production is the game to get into. Some of the most familiar faces in Tollywood are taking off the greasepaint — in some cases temporarily — and reinventing themselves as production czars for at least half the day.

The would-be producers include some of Bengali cinema’s best known faces — from Prosenjit and Rituparna to Jisshu Sengupta and veterans like Indrani Haldar and Arindam Sil. They all hope to make it big by producing films as well as television shows. Says Prosenjit: “I have a core team in place and am planning to open offices in Mumbai also.”

Of all the heroes and heroines, it’s Prosenjit who’s got the most ambitious plans — for movies, television and even mobile phones — that he has been working on in recent years and which he is now speeding up. He also seems comfortable performing a smart tightrope walk between his duties in front of the camera and behind the screens.

The Telegraph caught up with Prosenjit during a shoot for his latest film Tara at a dilapidated old salt godown near the Ganges. Prosenjit, who appeared completely at home in a folding chair uncomfortably close to the river talked first about his latest coup — getting ageing superstar Amitabh Bachchan to act in a Hindi film to be directed by Rituparno Ghosh and produced by Prosenjit. “We’ll begin shooting this film in 2010,” he says.

Arindam Sil reckons that his MBA and corporate experience should help him as a producer

The Ghosh film is uppermost in Prosenjit’s mind at the moment but it won’t be the first film off the blocks. He’s about to flag off a Bengali film that will be directed by Anindo Banerjee. Prosenjit will be the producer and he’ll also play the role in the movie of a 70-year-old grandfather who fights against social injustice and evil. “If Dharmendra, Manoj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Mammootty and Shah Rukh Khan could make it big as a producer, why not me?” says the star cheerfully.

Prosenjit, who’s now 46, knows that this is a good time to speed up his career as a producer. He’s still very much in demand on the Bengali screen but he’s aware that it can’t continue forever. “If Prosenjit had struck out earlier there might have been a clash between his stardom and his entrepreneurial instincts. But having worked with so many directors he now has the maturity to create something big,” says director Rituparno Ghosh, who has collaborated on many projects with the star.

Raveena Tandon (left) and Rituparna on the sets of Dance Pe Chance Boudimoni to be aired on Rupashi Bangla Pix: Nirmal Chakravarty

The star of over 300 Tollywood movies is also focusing strongly on the small screen. He’s making a handful of Bengali television serials and also a chat show. More ambitiously, he’s also hoping to create a 100-acre, state-of-the-art film city on the outskirts of Calcutta — he aims to model it on Ramoji Rao’s Film City outside Hyderabad. He’s looking for financiers for the film city and plans to build it in phases. Definitely, he’s thinking big on all his plans: “I want to be one of India’s top 10 producers five years from now,” he says.

There’s a buzz of activity when you step into Rituparna’s home even though it’s past eight in the evening. One part of the house has been turned into an office and though it’s late her team is still at work. Rituparna and her staff are trying to work out her schedules — juggling shoot dates in Mumbai and post- production work for her maiden feature film as producer, Brishtir Chayachobi. She’s also producing Potadar Keerti, slated for release next April.

Brishtir Chayachobi, directed by the veteran director Dulal Lahiri, is a boy-meets-girl story, written originally by renowned theatre director Manoj Mitra that’s scheduled to release by the year end. Rituparna stars opposite Saheb Chatterjee and the music is directed by Bickram Ghosh. “I asked Lahiri to direct this film since I’m comfortable working with him. This is my way of reciprocating an old friendship,” says Rituparna, who reckons that she’s working about 16 hours a day as she balances her two lives as a producer and an actor. She’s still acting full-time and 10 of her movies are due for release in the near future.

Prosenjit catches up on his paperwork in his mobile office-cum-make-up van; (top) the actor on the sets of Bratya Basu’s Tara Pix:Rashbehari Das

The actress has had ambitions of turning producer for quite some time now. She set up her production company Bhabna Aaj Kaal about five years ago and she’s done a few TV shows but it’s only now that things are taking off. She’s spent between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 30 lakh on Brishtir Chayachobi, and between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 60 lakh on Potadar Keerti.

Says Priyanshu Chatterjee, who’s the hero in Potadar Keerti: “Rituparna has a professional approach to production and she’s here to stay. As an actor your responsibility ends in giving a perfect take. But as a producer, you have to take charge of everything, including selling the film.”

But television is where Sengupta has already made her mark. She was the producer of the reality show Dance Pe Chance on the newly-launched channel Rupashi Bangla. The show, which has completed 30 episodes, has Bollywood divas competing with performers from Tollywood. “I wanted to create a new platform for local talent. We were lucky to get choreographer Saroj Khan as a judge and our sets are as good as reality shows on national television,” she says.

Though Sengupta has sunk a few crores into the show she’s confident about recovering it. And she’s also producing a sequel, Dance Pe Chance Boudimoni, in which housewives will show off their talent. The show will have Raveena Tandon as one of the judges along with Odissi exponent Sutapa Talukdar. Rituparna is expected to make occasional appearances as a judge and she hopes to also pull in celebrities like Dona Ganguly and Jaya Sil for some of the episodes. The show’s expected to go on air by December.

A still from Uro Megh, a film produced by Indrani Halder which stars Indrani and Kaushik Sen

The small screen is where many of the actor-turned-producers are starting out. Take Jisshu who kicked off his avatar as producer with Ghosh & Company on Star Jalsha last year. His company Blue Water Pictures is now producing Dancing Star, a dance reality show on Star Jalsha that will run for 26 episodes. Jisshu has also done line production (which involves organising the daily needs of film crews for a producer) for Ghosh’s film, Naukadubi, expected to release in early 2010. Jisshu’s also acting in the movie. His wife, Nilanjana, who’s working full-time on Dancing Star, says they’re looking for bigger opportunities but getting funding can be tough.

One movie that’s scheduled to hit the screens soon is actress-turned-producer Indrani Haldar’s Uro Megh, based on Suchitra Bhattacharya’s novel by the same name. The movie stars Kaushik Sen, Badsha Moitra and Indrani who plays a journalist in the movie. Indrani was cautious about the spending in the movie and it cost only about Rs 15 lakh to make. She says that ideally she’d like to make movies that cost between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 60 lakh.

Jisshu and one of the contestants on the sets of Dancing Star, being aired on Star Jalsha Photograph courtesy: Star Jalsha

Another veteran actor Arindam Sil has also set up a new company, Nothing Beyond Cinema, which will take up a mix of production and line production. Arindam has already roped in Mithun Chakraborty and son Mimoh for a Hindi film titled Spaghetti 24/7, which will be directed by Gaurav Pandey and for which shooting will start in December. The actor will also handle production for another film, Michael, to be directed by Ribhu Dasgupta and starring Mahie Gill and which wil have Anurag Kashyap as creative producer.

Arindam has prior experience in the production game. He was the executive producer of films like The Bong Connection, Via Darjeeling, Break Fail, and the to-be-released Shukno Lanka and 033 and is keen to work with big production houses making films in the city.

Being a producer and juggling commitments as an actor can be tough. Both Prosenjit and Rituparna work round-the-clock. Says Prosenjit: “I sleep only four hours a day. In fact, when I’m shooting, I meet up with my core team late in the evening and we make a plan that will keep them going for a week.”

Setting up a strong team that will carry on day-to-day work is the toughest part. Prosenjit already has a one in place and he has also called in his wife Arpita to share the workload.

Arindam thought about becoming a director but he reckoned that he might be better suited as a producer as he has an MBA and some corporate experience. Says Arindam: “With my experience I think I can be a good producer. Also, after all these years, I think I understand the language of filmmaking and can make a difference as a producer.” He’s also hoping to produce television soaps in the not too distant future.

The stars insist these aren’t just moneymaking projects and ways to stay on in the film industry. Indrani, for instance, says she was never interested in being a director. As for her acting career she says: “I’m interested only in serious and sensitive roles after so many years.”

Do winning ways in front of the camera guarantee success behind it? Around the world there are long lists of actors who’ve flunked it when they tried direction or production. But many of these stars are hoping they can find a winning formula between movies and television. And they’re hoping they’ll be guiding bigger hits in the future — from behind the scenes.