 |
| Sreelekha Mitra and Saswata Chatterjee in Ashchorjyo Prodeep |
Kaushik Ganguly: Bhooter Bhobishyot is a cult film. Bangalir jibone East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Bhooter Bhobishyot mishe gechhe. I saw it thrice just to understand the script. So how did you handle the pressure and deal with the expectations when making Ashchorjyo Prodeep?
Anik Datta: The success of Bhooter Bhobishyot was quite spooky. It was beyond my control. The audience took it to a different level. I couldn’t figure out why it happened. In fact, I was unsure about a few things in the film.... When people started asking me about the pressure and expectations, I went into denial mode. Another thing I found was people were very sympathetic. “Apnar khub chaap na?” they kept asking (grins). For Shabdo, you got critical acclaim, National Award, recognition, everything. How did you deal with the expectations?
Kaushik: I try not to think about it. It’s not in our hands. Since we can’t predict success, there’s no point worrying over it. And I liked your film so much that I felt you didn’t take that chaap at all. You didn’t play it safe. Staying true to your signature style, you took a different route. Did you take it consciously?
Anik: No, I read this story 20 years ago and I felt I could use it as an allegorical tale. I bought the rights to the story about seven-eight years back from Shirshenduda (Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay) and developed this into a script. So it was done much before Bhooter Bhobishyot. It was already there. After Bhooter Bhobishyot, I made a few changes (in Ashchorjyo Prodeep) because structurally there were a few similarities with Bhooter Bhobishyot. I wanted to give it a different ending, a different twist. Since it was ready, and there was this chaap to start on my second film, I felt this was the one.
Kaushik: How did you think of Mumtaz Sorcar for Mala Maal?
Anik: My producers had said that if required I could get someone from Bombay. But then I felt I would not have the control over dance rehearsals, costumes, look test etc.
Kaushik: How long did you take to come up with a name like Mala Maal?
Anik: At first the character was Pipasha Pal, there was an obvious reference, an alliteration. But then I felt that people might feel it’s a caricature of that person, that I was mimicking that person. So I changed it to Mala Maal. And then I thought that this kind of surname would easily come into a film like this. And Maal is a legitimate surname (grins)!
 |
Kaushik: You have this great flair for comedy...
Anik: I discovered it in me. In the beginning I had imagined that if I make films I would make intimate or intense films. I came to comedy through ad films. There are two simple hooks in advertisements — sentiment and humour. So when I made ad films, the humour came naturally. I found my knack for comedy while writing the creatives (script and jingles), and my confidence grew. Onekeri dharona when I speak I’ll be very glib-tongued, that I’ll trot out one-liners. In fact, I take time to think! So if you ask me a question, I might not be able to come up with a clever reply immediately. But if you give me five minutes I’ll be able to come up with a funny jingle or a concept!
Kaushik: If I had to compare this film with Bhooter Bhobishyot, I would say I like the ending far better. I was taken by surprise. It hinted at a different kind of Anik Datta. Are you thinking of something beyond comedies?
Anik: Absolutely. Now, I am 100 per cent sure I’ll try to write a script where there would be no deliberate attempt at creating haanshi-thatta! They’ll come naturally. I am sure we would like to explore new areas.
Kaushik: Yes, but then this film is not like Bhooter Bhobishyot. I really liked one line, “Roopkathay shob bola thake na” (everything is not told in fairy tales). For me, this is a boroder roopkatha (an adult fairy tale).
Anik: Bhooter Bhobishyot was a feel-good film. And I felt this is the time for me to take a chance. If people like this film, then we can go even further.
Kaushik: How much of an influence is Satyajit Ray on you?
Anik: Why am I singled out (grins)? Isn’t Kaushik Ganguly or Srijit Mukherji influenced by Ray?
Kaushik: Shobar opor achhe, but there’s something about your sense of humour and badhuni…
Anik: But I think Ray’s Parash Pathar and Mahapurush are his only out-and-out comedies. The humour came through in his dialogues, which also comes through in your films or in Srijit’s films, which have smart tongue-in-cheek lines.
If you talk about influence, there’s this interesting thing my wife pointed out to me. She says that when I pass Ray’s house on Bishop Lefroy Road my face starts to glow much like what happens to devotees when they pass Kalighat (smiles)! It’s unmistakable!
I had met him at his place once, but I got so scared that I could not utter a single word. I remember I was mesmerised by the cover of his Badshahi Angti, I must have been in Class VI in the early 1970s. Since I used to draw a bit, I was extremely impressed by his illustrations. Then Ray opened up this whole new world for me with Feluda and Professor Shanku. And then I watched Aparajito. He is a huge influence and you cannot avoid that influence. You grow up with him. People found his imprint in the first half of Bhooter Bhobishyot.
Kaushik: Did you come up with the tagline — Ebare bhoot noy doyityo?
Anik: Many people were asking me, “Ebareo ki bhoot niye? Bhoot achhe toh?” So I thought of a clever reply!
Picture: B. Halder
When I first heard of AP, I assumed it was a remake of Aladdin or something conventional and cliched. But it’s not! Saswata has done a spectacular job. His comic timing was brilliant, as usual. Sreelekha Mitra was also very good. Rajatava Dutta as the genie and Mumtaz Sorcar did not wow me as much.
The movie was extremely entertaining. No matter how cliched a story about an everyday couple’s unfulfilled aspirations may sound, Anik Datta remains true to his style and puts it forth in a very unconventional way. Some may compare it with BB but I believe AP is another one of Datta’s masterpieces, which will leave you wondering what you would have done had you come across a magic lamp!
Romona Chakravarty,
Third year, English, St. Xavier’s College
A weak plot, unnecessary one-liners and a misused cast constitute the world of Ashchorjyo Prodeep. After the phenomenal Bhooter Bhobishyot, such a disappointment was unanticipated. I felt slighted by the seemingly endless sexist jokes. There were things quite hard to understand: why the genie would say it’s difficult to lose the lamp when all you need is to throw it into the water or why the film would turn sentimental and “philosophical” after Anil’s infidelity backfires. With an outstanding cast, AP becomes a joke in itself while joking about everything and anything.
Adira Das Roy,
Class VIII, The Cambridge School
Ashchorjyo Prodeep was a huge disappointment after what the trailer and the cast had promised. The story in itself was lacking, although it was brought forth by great acting. The comic quotient of the film was a huge let-down, especially after something like Bhooter Bhobishyot.
Ishita Sarkar,
First year,English, Jadavpur University
I liked how Anik Datta depicted the middle-class man’s dreams of living in a posh housing society, riding in limos, pockets stuffed with money and a secret fantasy for foreign liquor (that he stutters to utter) and socialising with salacious women. Datta has lived up to his style of hashworosh (humour) and chhondo (rhyme). A team effort saw Saswata Chatterjee at his best, brilliantly supported by Rajatava Dutta and Sreelekha Mitra. Though the end is harsh, it leaves a question to be answered by society at large.
Kushan Chowdhury,
Second year, Microbiology, St. Xavier’s College
I went to watch Ashchorjyo Prodeep because it was by Anik Datta, the director of Bhooter Bhobishyot, and it matched up to my expectations. The movie was extremely enjoyable, with rib-tickling comedy throughout. The dialogues were outstanding, the puns were great.
My favourite actor in the movie was Saswata, hands down! He is such a versatile and effortless actor.
I didn’t like the ending, though. After the build-up, the ending was very important but this seemed very abrupt.
Moumita Majumdar,
Third year, English, Loreto College
Oishee Dutta,
Third year, Economics,St. Xavier’s College, and daughter of Anik Datta
Giving an unbiased opinion about a film whose evolution I’ve seen glimpses of right from the start is a little bit difficult but here goes...
Consumerism is like a perfect cup of cappuccino, sweet and foamy in the beginning till you reach the bitter dredges at the bottom of the cup. Ashchorjyo Prodeep is a satirical look at a harried, middle-class man’s life, complete with Baba’s trademark humour, be it situational comedy where Anil (Saswata Chatterjee) hides his pint of rum behind Rabindra Rachanabali or wordplay on “sales statistics” and “vital statistics”.
My favourite song is Gimme more, sung brilliantly by Tanya Sen and performed brilliantly by Mumtaz as Mala Maal. Personifying material greed and lust she sings, “zyaada zyaada yeh dil maange zyaada” in her micro-mini red dress as we hear strains of Mozart in the background.
When the genie with the evil smile appears and takes the ordinary man on a roller-coaster ride of a lifetime, we see how money makes our lives jhinchak.
The conclusion of the film is hard-hitting, like a bitter espresso shot that really wakes you up! My only critique is that I wish Progyanda’s gyan could have been shortened (like I would want to shorten Baba’s gyan in real life!). The entire film has a message (though Baba is averse to the word “message”) that Baba has tried to convince his “capitalist” daughter of for years.
Will I change my ways right away? I DON’T KNOW! Do I understand him now? YES!
I loved Ashchorjyo Prodeep and in my opinion it was far more thought-provoking than Bhooter Bhobishyot!
