A half-eaten doughnut is the butt of jokes when t2 meets the Chocolate team of director Neel Mukhopadhyay, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Paayel Sarkar and Rudranil Ghosh for a chat in Park Plaza. Over to the Friday film team for more quips, jokes and jibes...

Were all of you treated to a lot of chocolates on the sets of Chocolate?
Neel: Yes, there were a lot of chocolates on the sets, otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible to make this film! Rudra (Rudranil, who plays a thief in the film) wrote the script of Chocolate. We have retained the flavour of chocolate in the film, which is sweet and fun. 

Rudra: There are a lot of chocolatey moments in the film, for example, Neel and I would quarrel all the time! 

Param: Oh yes, the drawing room of my house became the de-facto courtroom!

So Param played the judge here? 
Param: Yes. 

Rudra: But Param is responsible for Neel’s hair loss. After Chocolate, Neel lost at least 30 strands of hair, courtesy Param. Every day, Neel would worry about Param walking in late. 

Param: No, no, I was never late!

Rudra: Now who would argue with the judge? Neel has aged because of you coming in late to the shoots. (Everyone laughs)

Param: I remember only one day when I was late and that was because I watched the India-Bangladesh match at night.

Neel: Yes, not everyone walked in on time. We are all friends....

Rudra: So Neel, you mean to say Param wasn’t late?! Okay! 

What are your memories associated with chocolate? Like no school romance is complete without gifting chocolates...
Param: As a kid, Rudra never looked at any girl, so he has no memory!

Paayel: When I was in school, a boy proposed to me with a card and a chocolate. I took the chocolate and returned the card!

Rudra: So in your entire life, you only got one chocolate as gift?

Paayel: Okay Rudra, if that makes you happy!

Rudra: My girlfriends gift me a lot of chocolates. I don’t eat them though. I put them in the fridge.

Paayel: Please pass some to me!

Param: When I was a kid, I loved having chocolate that would easily melt while watching films. You remember how we would enjoy the Amul Crisp chocolates, it would easily melt. That was pure sex! And the wrapper of the Amul chocolate had a boy giving away a chocolate to a girl and that really fascinated me.

Do you guys still gift chocolates to friends?
Paayel: Yes, it’s very convenient. If you have no time to go looking for a gift, chocolate is the best. And I still get chocolates on my birthday.

Neel: Earlier chocolates used to be the best gift....

Param: And when we were kids, anybody coming from abroad would give away loads of chocolates....

Neel, you have cast all your buddies in your directorial debut. What’s the upside and the downside of working with friends?
Neel: The downside was that since Param started coming in late, Rudra felt he too should come in late!

Param: The downside was also the fact that if Rudra disliked a sequence, as in if it wasn’t going by what he had written, he would set the house on fire! (Laughs)

Rudra: Possessive!

Neel: But then, I couldn’t have made this film without them.

Param: Also, without Kanchan (Mullick), Biswanath (Bose), Kharajda (Mukherjee), Koneenica (Banerjee)... everyone is part of the friends circle.

Neel: Baba (Arun Mukhopadhyay) is also there in the film. 

Param: And Neel’s son (Daayaad, 12)! 

Neel: It’s all in the family. It’s a film about family planning!

Rudra: And I wonder why his son agreed to do it. His son has a lot of attitude!

Param: Exactly. One day he wanted to have chicken roll. But since it wasn’t available on the sets, he actually went out on his own to have chicken roll. 

Neel: He is very clever. I had wanted to shoot with him for an entire day. But he kept saying he couldn’t because he needed to go for a football match. Now for the premiere, he has asked for two cards and I have information that he wants to bring along his girlfriend. (Everyone laughs)

Param: Chocolate is a breezy film. If Zulfiqar is biryani, then Gangster is Mutton Chaap and Chocolate is a very good dessert.

Rudra, you have a funny bone. Will you always write comedy?
Param: Don’t tell him that. He hates being called funny because he has that hero streak in him. 

Neel: Rudra is the Rajesh Khanna of Chocolate. Halka ekta Rajesh Khanna bhab achhe or...

Param: Yes, he tries to be Rajesh Khanna in all his left profile shots. In fact he looks a lot like Anil Kapoor with beard. (Everyone goes ROFL)

Rudra: Versatility is what they mean! (Winks)

Kushali Nag
Pictures: Pabitra Das