For the 2013 film Chander Pahar, based on the Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay novel, Dev as Shankar fought off elephants, a lion and a black mamba. The stakes are higher in Amazon Obhijaan — directed by Kamaleswar Mukherjee — where as Shankar he’s in search of the mythical city of gold, El Dorado, fending off anacondas and alligators, panthers and piranhas in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. A t2 chat with Dev, who will be cutting his birthday cake on December 25.

Did you ever imagine that you would get another chance to go on an adventure as Shankar after Chander Pahar?

I never thought that I’d be a part of Part Two. Actually we didn’t think of another film with Shankar. The audience began craving for one. They badgered me with questions about Shankar and what happened to him. But this is not like a Feluda or a Byomkesh Bakshi series, which are based on stories. For Shankar, someone had to write a story on that scale. Also, shooting the first one was so risky and dangerous. 

However, this idea for Amazon Obhijaan came about, and Kamalda took it up. Initially, the film was to be shot in snow… in Siberia. Then, all of a sudden it shifted to a rainforest. Then they went to Malaysia for a recce but didn’t like what they saw. It was not looking that adventurous. Finally they zeroed in on the Amazon rainforest.

What was going through your mind as you read the script?

I was wondering how they were going to shoot the film, with all the anacondas and crocodiles. Also, the terrain where we were shooting was so dangerous, with its piranhas, anacondas and electric eels. And then there were the jaguars, panthers and snakes on land. Also the mosquitoes… as dusk fell they would swarm the place where we were shooting. I have never seen such humongous swarms of mosquitoes! We were constantly asking each other for generous portions of mosquito-repellent creams.

The Amazon rainforest is...

... one of the most heavenly places on the planet. It is beautiful, mysterious and yet you have to be on your toes always... anything can attack you anywhere. Adventure seekers will have a whale of a time there. Every day we would travel to the shoot site on a boat or a canoe. There is no motorable road. The whole place is like a water world. I even spotted a petrol station just bobbing on water, it was on a platform. There was a house boat as well. Only a handful of films have been shot in the Amazon… it is so risky. Mostly people go there to shoot documentaries. 
 
 

What is Shankar up to in Amazon Obhijaan?

This film carries forward the adventurous spirit of Shankar shown in Chander Pahar. In the 2013 film Shankar had to overcome a whole lot of  things. Every 15-20 minutes you got to see Shankar in the face of some danger or challenge that he had to conquer. For Amazon Obhijaan the level of danger that Shankar faces has gone up. You’ll get to see Shankar being chased by six panthers; from where he dives into a river and finds himself surrounded by three alligators!

From wild elephants, lion and black mamba in Chander Pahar to panthers and alligators in Amazon Obhijaan... 

It’s not just about the animals in Amazon.... The whole terrain was so tough. You run the risk of getting hurt if you don’t watch your step in the jungle. Also, there were the bullet ants…their sting and bite are so painful. You had to be careful around trees as well. Touching some of the trees could give you fever and there is no way to know which is a safe tree and which isn’t. There were people to guide us but then in the flow of an intense shoot you don’t keep everything in mind. And if you accidentally had water from the river, it might cause severe vomiting or diarrhoea. You cannot feel sorry for anyone because the film was designed like this. Danger is part of Shankar’s adventure and he has to overcome all the barriers that come his way.

In an earlier t2 chat you had said that Chander Pahar was your dream film. What is Amazon Obhijaan for you?
In terms of scale, magnitude, grandeur and adventure, Amazon Obhijaan is the ultimate. It will set a benchmark. Some films are supposed to be watched on the big screen. This is one of them. 

You hurt your right foot during the shoot. How did that happen?

The scene had me moving through trees and logs lying on the ground. The first rehearsal went off well but when doing it again, I stepped on something lying around and the sharp edge of a branch went through my boot and pierced my foot. I was in tremendous pain. A medic gave me injection, painkillers… but there was water everywhere, which meant there was less time to heal. My foot had swollen and the most painful part was dressing the foot at night. 

When did you resume shooting?

I was back on shoot the next day. In fact, I also shot on the very day I got hurt... I shot for scenes where I was sitting down. See Shankar is there in every frame of the film, so I had to shoot every day. The shoot was physically demanding and mentally one had to be very strong... one had to also keep up the team spirit. Even if you got hurt, you had to keep up a straight face. 

What were the toughest parts of the shoot?

Shooting by a waterfall, in the creeks and in the jungles.... all were really tough. There are scenes where we are moving towards the City of Gold by the water route.... As we were shooting, we heard the sound of a tree branch snapping. The jungle is so dense that it takes a while to figure things out. And then suddenly we realised that the tree under which we were shooting was on its way down. We jumped away and the huge tree fell with a thud sending up clouds of dust. 

NO NETWORK ZONE

For many days we went without making phone calls or any Internet connection. We would shoot from 4am to 5pm-6pm for six days. Often we would rehearse in the evenings and plan for the next day. Sunday was off, so we would go to the town and be connected. There was this inscrutable feel to the whole experience in the Amazon rainforest, where we are completely cut off from the world. We would use our mobiles only to take pictures! 

THINGS DEV LEARNT FOR AMAZON OBHIJAAN

Rowing
Doing the stunts for underwater sequences

Arindam Chatterjee
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