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Dev in Chander Pahar |
(Tongue firmly in cheek) You suffered a heart attack after the release of your second film Meghe Dhaka Tara. Will you be all right after the release of Chander Pahar!?
Chances are something more fatal will happen! (Laughs out loud)
The buzz about the film is that the first look is international but people have doubts about Dev playing Shankar…
I am not sure if the look is international but I have tried to show Africa as a larger-than-life character in the film. There were a lot of natural hassles because we were dealing with lions, elephants and snakes plus the landscape, the terrain and... daylight disappears very early. We had no cars, we had to trek and reach our shoot locations. So our crew would carry all the equipment. It was very difficult. Time was a major factor when we were shooting in Africa. Everybody would get tired fast. Despite that if the look of the film has been appreciated already, then I am sure people will like Dev too.
Was it Shree Venkatesh Films’ idea to cast Dev in Chander Pahar?
No, it was actually my idea to cast Dev as Shankar. When I suggested Dev’s name, many were shocked. See, the kind of films that Dev has done so far, that really didn’t matter to me. His face and physicality matched with Bibhutibhushan’s (Bandopadhyay; Chander Pahar is based on his novel) description of Shankar who is well built, swims, climbs a tree, is very agile... a village boy who goes to Africa and rides horses, fights a lion, a black mamba and survives a wild elephant chase. He crosses the Kalahari alone. So when I thought of Shankar, the only name that popped up in my head was Dev. If Dev wouldn’t have said yes then probably we would have cast a newcomer because from the rest of the Tollywood actors, I really don’t think anyone could play Shankar.
Have you seen any of Dev’s films?
Yes, yes I have seen Poran Jai Joliya Re, Challenge, Challenge 2, Sedin Dekha Hoyechhilo, Paglu.
What do you think of him as an actor?
See, we’ve done a huge amount of rehearsals with Dev so that his acting is up to the mark. See, for different kinds of character a different kind of acting is required. For example the character Indraneil (Sengupta) played in Uro Chithi or Saswata (Chatterjee) played in Meghe Dhaka Tara, a different kind of acting was required. In Chander Pahar what was needed more was an athlete’s body and an innocent face. I think Dev has both. And Dev prepared a lot. I gave him to read the book first….
The English translation, you mean…
Yes, and then I used to read out the Bengali version. We didn’t have workshops but we did a lot of rehearsals before every shot. Articulation, Bangla bola, I would explain to Dev and he was extremely cooperative. Rest, the horse- riding part and handling the gun, he was okay with and of course the stunts. I think Dev has really lived up to my expectations as Shankar.
Chander Pahar is a very challenging subject to adapt on screen, why did you decide on it?
It’s a fascinating novel. I loved reading the novel as a child and I’m sure many did. Then when I became a filmmaker I would often wonder if I could ever make it into a film. That dream will convert into reality so soon, I didn’t expect. Shrikantda (Mohta of Shree Venkatesh Films) was like a pillar of strength. Without the support of Venkatesh Films Chander Pahar wouldn’t have been possible. More than anything else, for a film like this, the production-logistic part is very important.
Your debut film Uro Chithi was a box-office dud, Meghe Dhaka Tara too didn’t make much noise at the box office, what are your expectations from Chander Pahar?
To tell you the truth I didn’t think of the box office when I pitched Chander Pahar. It’s my extreme aspiration to make the film and at the same time I knew that Chander Pahar is a familiar story, has a straight narrative and is a children’s novel. So, I think it won’t fare too bad at the box office.
How has the Chander Pahar experience impacted you as a person?
We spent about 40 days in Africa during our first schedule. What really surprised me was that so many people have a way of life which is not even remotely close to ours. Gustaf, our rock-climbing trainer, leaves home in the morning with a rope and climbs one mountain after another; his wife is a mountaineer too. They have a kid but more than half of their lives are spent rock climbing. I also met Bruce, a British gentleman who has a huge collection of guns. We got to know a lot about the jungles from him. Then there was Alex who has trained Columbus, the lion. Shaun our elephant wrangler is so brave, the way he handles wild elephants is amazing. We shot with notorious snakes like the black mamba, gaboon viper and puff adder, their wrangler is almost 70 but the way he dealt with them was oshadharon. I had gone to his house one day and I was so scared because there were snakes everywhere. I wanted to go to the washroom and had to literally jump and cross the snakes.... It made me braver! The line from Satyajit Ray’s Agantuk was in my head always, which goes ‘kupomundak hoyona’, it’s all about wanderlust. That has really affected me and also the entire unit. Everyone would say, barbar Chander Pahar hobey na, ekbari hobe toh korey neye, eta ekta experience hoye thakbey. Really, the experience has been very adventurous.
You apparently risked Dev’s life with the black mamba. Did you take the risk because you are a doctor?
(Laughs) My skills as a doctor wouldn’t have worked there because I am a doctor of internal medicine (he is an ICCU doc). We had Tony, an emergency medical officer, with us throughout the shoot. And we trusted him intrinsically. Every day there was something or the other, like eye allergies, bruises, cuts, heat waves. He saved us from it all.
Did you ever feel frustrated during the shoot?
Yes! Particularly while shooting with the animals. I will never forget what Sabu, the lion, did on the sets. We were ready with our cameras. But Sabu was in no mood. He came, saw us, took a stroll, went to our base camp, came back, lunched on a kilo of meat, went under a tree and fell asleep! I was so pissed off that I told myself ‘dhur, what am I doing?’ Those were very frustrating moments.
What is the space in Tollywood that you wish to occupy?
To tell you the truth I don’t consciously think about the future. I don’t have a specific aspiration as a filmmaker. That I would be given a chance to make films is something I always doubted. I am not an achiever or a go-getter.
Yes you are very shy too…
I can’t mingle easily with people. It’s a major drawback. I have zero communication skills and that causes problems in my personal life too. That’s why I don’t believe that I can really make a space for myself in Tollywood!
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Dev with his Chander Paharco-star Columbus, the lion |
The key players
Dev: Shankar
Tamal Roy Chowdhury: Shankar’s dad
Laboni Sarkar: Shankar’s mom
Gerard Rudolf: Diego Alvarez
Luthuli Dlamini: Train guard
David James: Albuquerque
Paul Ditchfield: African hunter
Matthew Monika: Zulu King
Citto Otto: Jim Carter
Andrew Stock: Atrio Gati
Core crew
Soumik Halder: DoP
Subhankar Bhar: additional DoP
Shibaji Pal: production designer, India
Nmonde Ngema: production designer, South Africa
Jaspreet Kaur Jagpal: costume designer, India
Sonya Bester: costume designer, South Africa
Ritesh Chawla and Amit Das: chief assistant directors
Roma Singh: research and props
Indraadip Dasgupta: music
Rabi Ranjan Moitra: editing
Biswajit Chatterjee: sound
Kushali Nag
Is Kamaleswar the most path-breaking Tolly director of our times? Tell t2@abp.in