Dhritiman Chaterji and Sonali Gupta share a great camaraderie. They talk a lot and laugh a lot, often pulling each other’s leg like teenagers! Perhaps that’s why director Saibal Mitra cast them as Byomkesh Bakshi and his wife Satyabati in Sajarur Kanta, which hits screens on Friday. A t2 chat...  

Sonalidi your last film Pratham Pratisruti was in 1971. What took you so long to do another film?
Sonali: Well, Saibal and Dhritiman are very close family friends. I have seen Saibal’s work and I’ve been a fan of Dhritiman since childhood. Even if it’s a small role, the team is so good that I thought I would enjoy it. I never felt like I was working after so many years. Probably because I was born and brought up in a film family (she’s the daughter of director Dinen Gupta and actress Kajal Gupta). When Dhritiman was enacting the scenes in Sajarur Kanta, I was thinking of Agniswar where Ma had acted with Uttam Kumar.  

Dhritimanda, were you keen on playing Byomkesh in Sajarur Kanta?
Dhritiman: See, Saibal started developing this film in 2008-2009, largely due to a suggestion that Aparna (Sen) had given. In fact, this film had started to develop before the other Byomkesh films were made. Saibal and I knew that if the project ever took off, I would be a part of it. I said yes because of Byomkesh, but much more because of Saibal.

Did you help Sonalidi become Satyabati?
Dhritiman: No, not in that sense. A spirit developed, everybody was interacting. 
Sonali: No, but after my shots I would always ask Dhritiman if it was okay.
Dhritiman: Soumitra Chatterjee still asks after every shot, ‘Kirey thik chhilo?’
Sonali: Soumitrakaku had come to our house to shoot Indira. I had stopped working by then. He asked me, ‘Eta ki thik korle? I really wanted to work with you.’ 

Have you seen the other Byomkesh films?
Sonali: No.
Dhritiman: Anjan’s (Dutt) films... yes, I have seen the first two.   

Kushali Nag
What do you think of Dhritiman and Sonali as Byomkesh and Satyabati? Tell t2@abp.in