She calls him Pulu jethu. He makes him break into a broad smile, and when they come together Soumitra Chatterjee, Swastika Mukherjee and Mir are a blast! The three got together at the tearoom Karma Kettle for a t2 chat on their comedy film Michael, directed by Satrajit Sen, which releases on February 9.
What is your earliest memory of working with Swastika?
Soumitra: I remember we were working together in Krishnakanter Will. On the first day, she smiled at me, and I also smiled back, formally. She did not say anything. The next day she walked up to me when I was getting my make-up done and with a straight face, brought out a couple of pictures from her bag. ‘Look at this,’ she said, quite angry. I saw a child in my lap, and then in my wife’s lap. Then she asked me, ‘Do you recognise me now?’
Swastika: That was so overwhelming. He is Soumitra Chatterjee to everyone… to me, as an actor, he’s that too. But he means more to me. I have heard so much about him from my father (Santu Mukherjee).
Soumitra: We were one big family. And she inherited that…. I had two lieutenants — her father and Samit Bhanja. At that time I used to bring food from home on the sets and both would come to have lunch.
Swastika: He has always been Pulu jethu to me. For a long time I did not even know Pulu jethu and Soumitra were the same guy!
Mir: Before starting on Michael, I had asked Atanu Ghosh (director) for some tips, and he said: ‘Listen, he’ll suddenly change his speed. He’ll start ordinary, and react, and you will feel he has no enthusiasm, energy, nothing… and as the punchline nears, he’ll change speed, and you won’t be able to handle it.’ And I was thinking, I am going to act in a film, not face yorkers in a cricket match!
How do you defend that?
Mir: I didn’t try to since Michael is supposed to get stumped and yorked by that delivery. Michael is not supposed to react to that. Mayurbahan is always having a one-up on Michael.
Soumitra: I am an admirer of Swastika, as an artiste and human being. I am not even coming to Mir… Mir has so much experience and curiosity about life. An artiste should be like him.
Mir: Everyone would get into a frenzy when he arrived on the sets. Just before that everyone would be so relaxed. But the moment he entered… everyone would be going, ‘Four hours, four hours’ (Soumitra worked for four hours every day, except the final day).
(Soumitra leaves, and Swastika and Mir carry on with the chat)
Mir, you wake up at 4.30am and Swastika goes to sleep around that time… did this ever come in the way of your shooting schedule?
Mir: This was one of the major factors why Satrajit selected us for the roles… he thought opposites attract, and both of us would hit it off well! When I am drowsy, she is alert… when she is drowsy, I am at the top of my wits. Which is why she never sees my interest and I don’t understand her agony.
Swastika: How did we get to know each other?
Mir: We were introduced on the sets of Nandini (a film starring Mir and Swastika that didn’t get released) in 2011… before that I had done several events where she was there as a guest. She has been on stage, and I have introduced her.
Swastika: Mir is very chilled out, I never felt he was judgemental... he is very sorted, humble… I have always felt that I can be myself with him. Now, though I just tell him the worst things!
Mir: This part that she has just told you has come with great pain and effort…
Swastika: You are not appreciating the fact that I am being genuine…
Mir: It is unbelievable… nine out of 10 times I have met Swastika she will begin with a complaint. ‘You toh’…That is her signature line… ‘You toh did not do this…’, ‘You toh said that thing’, (starts singing Yon toh hamne lakh...). And I am like this bumbling oaf always saying, ‘No no no, I didn’t mean to say that,’ ‘Was I supposed to call?’, ‘Did you want to connect with me’. I am always caught on the wrong foot.
Swastika: Don’t do natak. I want to talk and connect, but he is not available.
Mir: When we meet, I find my word count going down to 10 or 12 in an hour… which is good. I get to hear what she has to say. Sometimes we don’t even look at each other… but she is talking. She is one of the most talked-about artistes, for good, bad, ugly, whatever reasons and the image she portrays, which is true, is, ‘Are you talking about me? I am not bothered about you.’ That’s something I love about her, that is amazing. She does her own stuff. The day I got to know she went for an audition in Mumbai in an auto rickshaw, I felt all that I knew about her was absolutely genuine and correct. She does not fake it, she doesn’t need to fake it. Most people think she is the partying type… I know some of her flashiest pictures are from t2 parties…
Swastika: (Laughs) They are very protective…
Mir: … and she is absolutely not that. She is mostly found at home… she is a loving, doting mother as homely as any of our family members would be. This is something I absolutely admire in her. She can balance both worlds beautifully without making a huge deal about it. She is a wonderful clotheshorse. You give her anything to wear… even if it is a torn rag, she will make it look sexy.
What’s the one thing you don’t like about each other?
Swastika: We are supposed to go for dinner for the last two years. It hasn’t happened yet.
Mir: A day goes by, and she says, ‘You haven’t called.’ She doesn’t say anything and then suddenly one day she will give it to you full throttle. She can be very caustic when it comes to jharoing you. I feel she needs to have a little bit of honey on the tongue and…
Swastika: When did I say this?! When did I say things so badly? I am just trying to figure out…
Mir: And it is very difficult to change the topic. She is stuck on that.
How come you ended up playing her husband in both Nandini and Michael?
Mir: I actually feel jittery sharing screen space with Swastika.
Swastika: What rubbish!
Mir: In Nandini, I was also this henpecked husband who listens to his wife… in Michael also, he is making an attempt to listen to his wife, his intention is clear, but it’s not happening. And playing the henpecked husband suits me. I don’t think I would look good playing a dominating husband to Swastika! I find her to be a phenomenal actor, and out of that respect I need to be prepared. She will take the sheen and glamour to a different level. She is very good with her lines. I heard from sound engineers she is brilliant with her dubbing....We kept on telling Satrajit, ‘Put some mithas in the relationship.’ Just keep one montage shot, where the director wants to show, ‘Once upon a time they were very happy!’
What are the things that irritate you the most?
Swastika: Maids not turning up.
Mir: Swastika has unveiled a new novel — Maid In India. Maybe I can help her out with this situation in the morning by going over to her place and doing the dishes! For me, questions I keep facing about my hair… have you coloured it, why have you not dyed it… why is your hair salt ’n’ pepper. And people not being on time is a major irritant.
Mir, we see you dancing with Swastika in the song Behaya raat...
Mir: From telling me in 2011 (for Nandini) how to stand properly, how to take the light, take a profile and not guard or cut the light from her face to shooting the song, it’s another chapter in the same book. I was shit nervous, pacing up and down and I was watching her… she was wearing an extremely gorgeous dress. She had done her hair amazingly well. I had not seen a dance shoot before this, and I was seeing how she was collaborating with the choreographer. And then came Sunny Deol! She patiently taught me the steps. The moment I got out, I WhatsApped her — Today I completely bow to you.
Swastika: That’s because I loooove you!
Did you keep anything extra in mind when Soumitra was around on the sets?
Swastika: We didn’t smoke in front of him.
Mir: By the way, he (Soumitra) polished off one-and-a-half bottles of beer for one scene! He was enjoying himself. We always say we have to learn from him, but I don’t know whether we will ever really learn from him. But we keep trying. The great experience about Michael is working with Soumitra. Of course, no one has a baby picture of her in his lap!
Arindam Chatterjee
Pictures: Rashbehari Das
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