After Maacher Jhol, he is ready to serve Ahare Mon at theatres from today. Time for ex-journalist Pratim D. Gupta to interview director Pratim D. Gupta.

Are you trying to play safe with Ahare Mon by making yet another feel-good film after Maacher Jhol?

The greatest danger in making movies is playing safe. There is no formula in cinema. You can’t repeat success. And especially in a film industry like Tollywood, the content has to be new, interesting and radically different. Maacher Jhol was a food film exploring changing dynamics within a family. Ahare Mon is a melange of interconnected love stories involving people whom we don’t usually associate with romance. How are they the same? But because both films have been written and directed by me, some scenes hit the same notes at times. And that is a great thing, I believe. Also, if a film does make you feel good, what’s wrong with that? Aren’t there way too many things making you feel bad?

From the trailer and song videos, it seems that the four love stories are of different look and feel. Do they come one after the other like the three stories in Shaheb Bibi Golaam? 

No. And there lies the fun and the challenge. The four stories are running parallelly and only towards the end you realise how the stories are connected. It was challenging as a writer to craft a screenplay that keeps hopping from one story to another... stories which don’t seem to have any connection on the face of it. To write scenes that will be impactful enough for you to remember the characters and premise when I’ll bring you back to a particular story maybe 15-20 minutes later. It’s fun because when you have all the characters experiencing love or loneliness at the same time, it creates a beautiful universal feeling. 

You work with the same actors every time. Has the rest of the industry turned you down or are you too lazy to approach new actors?

I write new characters and sometimes while writing I see the actors’ faces emerge from the pages. And guess what? They happen to be actors I have worked with before. Maybe because I have worked with them before. Only after working with Ritwick Chakraborty in Shaheb Bibi Golaam, I realised what the man can do. Now I need a few films to explore that incredible potential. And that same theory applies for Anjan Dutt, Mamata Shankar, Paoli Dam and Parno Mittra. I’m very open to working with other actors. As long as they are actors.

And clearly you have no problem in working with stars. Isn’t Dev doing a cameo in Ahare Mon? 

Let’s just say a lot of Ahare Mon is about Dev. One-fourth of the film, to be precise. It was extremely gracious of him to agree to be part of the film. We were shooting with him at a hospital and I peeked out of the window to see half of the city lining up to catch a glimpse of their favourite star. There’s a lot of honesty in Dev’s eyes and I found that hypnotic from behind the monitor. 

Is Dev the big twist that the cast is mentioning in the release countdown videos on social network?

No actually. There’s a fun little twist which comes at the end of the film. You might be spotting the twist way before it’s spelt out. There are clues sprinkled all over the film. 

Is there yet another recipe with the closing credits?

(Laughs) How can there be? There is no chef in this film. But there are things happening in the closing credits yet again. So if audiences sit back when the names start popping up, they’ll get to watch more of the film and maybe find a surprise or two.

You must be having a personal favourite from the four stories... 

It changes with every viewing. On days I roll on the Edit FX floor laughing at Ritwick and Parno’s antics and facial gesticulations as the two hustlers Michael Tendulkar and Suzie Q. On days I can’t hold back my tears watching Adil Hussain’s Purnendu Pahari coming to terms with his lonely heart. On days I go back home with a smile on my face thinking of the incredible chemistry between Anjan Dutt and Mamata Shankar as Barun Babu and Charulata Debi. And on days Chitrangada’s melancholic Titli stays with me. Honestly, Ahare Mon is a celebration of the best acting in not only this part of the world, but of the entire country. Had I not made this film, I would have still queued up for the first day first show ticket of Ahare Mon just to see this amazing cast in the same movie.

Anjan Dutt and Mamata Shankar are working together after such a long time. Did they take time to warm up?

On the contrary, it seemed like they have been shooting together all this while. The chemistry is unbelievable. There’s so much happening between just their stares, their smiles... the unsaid zone. It was a treat just watching them together. I’m honoured that the legendary pair from Kharij and Grihajuddha is back opposite each other in my film. Their approaches though are very different. Anjanda is more spontaneous and instinctive and might do the same shot in different ways in different takes. With Momo Mashi you know exactly what you’re getting after the rehearsals. Yet the two of them were simply electric together.