Shrikant, Prosenjit, Abir, Raima and Srijit listen to Anupam strum one of his compositions; (below) Prosenjit with Abir and Raima. (Aranya Sen)

Prosenjit, Srijit Mukherjee and Shree Venkatesh Films are back for their next film together — 22shey Srabon, a thriller around a serial killer. Also starring Parambrata Chatterjee, Raima Sen, Abir Chatterjee and Goutam Ghose, the film has Anupam Roy as music composer. A t2 chat with the 22shey Srabon team...

What is 22shey Srabon all about?

Srijit: You can call it a serial killer-cop drama… essentially about the police force with a couple of cops investigating a series of murders. It’s a thriller with elements of drama and human relationships.

What hooked you to the script and character?

Prosenjit: Srijit probably wrote the character of Prabir Guha Neogi with me in mind, but I found inspiration for this character in a police officer called Runu Guha Neogi, who used to be a terror for criminals during the Naxal era. He would dress up as a woman and go around chasing criminals. So that kind of a character that makes people go ‘arey baapre!’ is what I’m playing. Honestly speaking, I’ve never played such a character. I’ve played a cop many times but the attitude, behaviour, sense of humour, body language… is all very different. He doesn’t have a wife or a girlfriend but there is a romantic side to him. He wouldn’t mind going to a prostitute for sex. He doesn’t stick to the conventional portrait or image of a hero... shades that I have rarely come across in Indian cinema.

Now I don’t want to act if I don’t get the kick to reach the sets two hours before my scheduled time. After Autograph, Moner Manush and Chalo Paltai, this is again a character je magic kore beriye jete parey, provided I can pull it off. In Autograph, portraying a character close to what I am was easy but this is far from that.

Shrikant Mohta: For both Bumbada (Prosenjit) and me, it was important for us to like the subject and the script. The motive was not to make a film that we could all do together again but to make a good film in a much better way.

Are you doing any homework?

Prosenjit: I believe in working from instinct. I don’t prepare unless the film needs me to do some special practice, like I needed to pick up singing and dancing with the ektara for Moner Manush. Otherwise, I just insist on a briefing from my director about the character and the backstory. For this film, we are discussing a lot. Sohagdi (Sen) is helping us.

Why did you want to do a thriller after Autograph?

Srijit: Autograph for me was a very feel-good film and I wanted to do something diametrically opposite. I have always been a thriller buff and had written some scripts for telefilms and stage in Bangalore.

Shrikant: As a producer what challenges me most is the script. I was convinced about this one because I could feel the story, the characters and the emotions. We at Shree Venkatesh are trying this genre for the first time.

Are you targeting the same audience that Autograph has tapped?

Shrikant: Even bigger. It’s targeted at an audience who want to watch sensible cinema because we feel that the Bengali film audience is growing, at least for this kind of cinema. A lot of new subjects are being tried out and they’re running well at the multiplexes as well as single screen theatres. We’re getting good technicians, good artistes, editors and writers. It’s been a big jump in the last two years.

Who are the key players in 22shey Srabon?

Srijit: I wanted Bumbada for this role because he’s the hungriest actor I’ve ever seen. We’ve decided on three looks for his character to go with three different stages of his life. There’s Goutam Ghose who’s playing a mad poet. Parambrata plays a young cop. Abir and Raima are childhood friends who are part of a TV channel. Rajesh Sharma plays an interesting character of another cop. The film will be shot in Calcutta because we want to capture the dark side of Calcutta, so we need to be out there on the streets.

Raima: I play Amrita; Abir is my colleague and childhood friend. My love interest is Parambrata. I’m this effervescent, anglicised journalist who takes her work very seriously. Stubborn but with a lot of fire in my belly.

Abir: My character, Surya, is a good boy, focused and serious, who shares this great rapport with Amrita that can’t be categorised as romantic or plain friendship.

What made you all take up 22shey Srabon?

Raima: I have never done something like this before. My relationship with Param is different from my relationship with Abir in the film. Amrita is a young urban girl like any of us, which probably makes it a little difficult for me. It’s always more difficult to play yourself than play a defined character. In Chokher Bali or Noukadubi I just had to bring in something new yet be conventional.

Abir: I liked my role because it wasn’t very defined like Bomkesh or my role in Prem By Chance. This character leaves a lot to me to decide how to give it shape. The cast is an eclectic mix and for the first time I’m going to work with Venkatesh and Bumbada, so quite excited.

Raima and Abir, have you two met before?

Abir: I’ve seen most of her films.

Raima: I’ve seen his Cross Connection. We’ve never really met but for this film Abir and I need to be comfortable with each other. I will have workshops with him to break the ice. We have to look like childhood friends!

Anupam, how are you going about composing for this film?

Anupam: Srijit knows most of my songs and he picked out five from my songbook to go with this film. There are two romantic songs, one about existential angst and two very intense songs heavily influenced by classical music. Some might have to be rewritten in order to go with the movie, which I did for Autograph too.... After Autograph and scoring the entire music for Chalo Paltai, this is going to be my third venture and I feel a lot more confident. I’ve left my engineering job in Bangalore and I’m returning to Calcutta by mid-March to pursue music full-time.

 

Gautam Ghosh

You’re getting back to acting...

Yes. A lot of people have asked me many times but I could never make time. Bumba and Srijit convinced me and I felt that these young boys are trying out new subjects, so I must co-operate. Let’s see how I do!

When did you last face the camera?

Oh, that was many years ago for Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Grihajuddha (1982) and then I did a cameo in Yilmaz Guney’s The Wall (1983). I happened to be in France then and he requested me to play a small part.

You play a mad poet...

I play Nibaron, an eccentric poet, an iconoclast from the hungry generation of the Sixties. A character that weaves the thrill into the thriller.

How are you preparing for it?

Roj-i toh obhinoy korachhi but it will be different once I go in front of the camera. I’m trying to work from my memory... of how the poets of that generation would behave and also reading poems and the works of Falguni Roy or Malay Roy Choudhury.

I play Abhijit Pakrashi, a Special Branch police officer investigating a series of murders, in 22shey Srabon. A very Bengali boy from a small town who has done well and attained an important position in the police force. I share a special bond with Prosenjit, who is my senior.... I had many reasons to take up this role. I had missed out on Autograph as I was out of the country and this one is a prized role next to Bumbada. It’s going to be my first film with him.

 

Parambrata Chattopadhyay

I play Abhijit Pakrashi, a Special Branch police officer investigating a series of murders, in 22shey Srabon. A very Bengali boy from a small town who has done well and attained an important position in the police force. I share a special bond with Prosenjit, who is my senior.... I had many reasons to take up this role. I had missed out on Autograph as I was out of the country and this one is a prized role next to Bumbada. It’s going to be my first film with him.