Dev channels the adventurer in him for Amazon Obhijaan
TT Bureau
Published 16.12.17, 12:00 AM
Shafts of light pierce the dense foliage of the Amazon rainforest and fall on Shankar and Anna as they try to cross a river by holding on to a rope. The sun-kissed scene might appear to be idyllic but the shoot was quite tricky. “We got saved just at the nick of time,” says Dev. “It’s one of our deadliest experiences…. We had to cross the river without any harness, just by holding a rope. The current was strong and there was a steep fall on the other end of the river. And Svetlana slipped,” trails off Dev, who sprang to her rescue. He caught hold of her and made sure that she was all right before they resumed the walk.
Shankar’s childlike fearlessness to conquer the unknown took him to South Africa in Kamaleswar Mukherjee’s Chander Pahar, based on the Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay novel. Now, Shankar’s quest for adventure has taken him to South America in search of the mythical city of gold, El Dorado, in Amazon Obhijaan, which releases on December 22. This time Shankar (Dev) is accompanied by Marco Florian, a 55-year-old opera conductor with an adventurous streak, and his daughter Anna, who is an anthropologist. While Svetlana Gulakova plays Anna Florian, David James plays Marco Florian in the Kamaleswar Mukherjee-directed film. Dev takes t2 behind the scenes of some Amazon Obhijaan moments...
This is the fightback in the face of fear after they are tied to a tree. “A tribe captured us and they now want to kill us… we were walking through an area which belonged to them, and suddenly
they ambush us,” says Dev.
The best part about a jungle journey is the surprises waiting for Shankar and Co. at every turn. A sudden movement puts Shankar and Anna on guard. The rifles are out and Shankar and Anna are ready to shoot. The action intensifies behind the camera. “A tree fell, injuring costume designer Chandrima,” says Dev.
Shankar pores over a map. “I was trying to decode it. You see the shots where I am sitting down… I did many of those after I hurt my right foot,” says Dev.
VERANDA VIEW
Rituparna Sengupta at the premiere of the Reshmi Mitra-directed film Baranda at Priya cinema. Rituparna is in a “complicated relationship” with Shaheb Bhattacherjee in the film, while Bratya Basu plays her physically challenged husband. “I watched the film on Sunday at Nandan. It’s an interesting film but I felt the pace could have been faster with less dialogue in certain scenes. The music (by Raja Narayan Deb) is good but it could have been better,” said Rituparna Sengupta.
Pictures: Pabitra Das
