Prosenjit, around 300 films old, cut his birthday cake on Sunday. “Actors don’t age; my mind is no more than 25 years old,” says the Tollywood star. Looking back at his 25-year-long career, Prosenjit shares some secrets with t2...

Most challenging role:

It has to be Kaushik in Rituparno Ghosh’s Dosar. The character was very challenging from the first scene to the last. The story begins with Kaushik cheating on his wife, spending a weekend with another woman and then running into an accident. He sustains injuries and is helpless, so most of the time I have to lie in bed and emote only through my eyes. It was very difficult as apart from my eyes none of my body parts moved. It was physically very exhausting. It was also challenging because the audience do not easily accept such characters.

Best comic role:

I love doing comedy, but sadly I haven’t yet got a comic role that’s close to my heart. Something like Kamal Haasan in Chaachi 420, or Eddie Murphy in most of his films. I liked my roles in Sasurbari Zindabad, Mayer Anchal and Gyanrakol. I started my career on stage at Star theatre when I was only 16. I would play a lot of comic characters then and developed a taste for comedy.

Favourite co-actress:

Debashree Roy. I have worked with her in more than 25 films. She is a great actress, but I won’t be able to comment on whether we made a great screen pair or not as I don’t want to hurt others. Given a chance I wouldn’t mind doing a film with Debashree again. I have done 35 films with Rachana (Banerjee), 50 with Rituparna (Sengupta), around 16 with Indrani Halder and four with my wife Arpita. But I have done the maximum number of films with Satabdi Roy.

Favourite Prosenjit film:

Haranath Chakraborty’s Daay Dayitwa. I played Ranajoy in the film. It’s special because Uttamjethu (Uttam Kumar) was supposed to do the role I did and it was to be directed by someone else. The film got shelved. Then, Victor (Banerjee) was supposed to do it. Finally, I did it and I am very happy about it.

Three standout films:

Sujit Guha’s Amar Sangi. It established me as a star in the industry. The song Chirodini ami je tomar is still a favourite among young and old. I have a friend who married a German only because he could sing Chirodini!

Tarun Majumdar’s Apon Amar Apon, where I was cast alongside Tapas Pal. He played the romantic role, while I had a character with negative shades. I learnt a lot from Tanuda (Tarun Majumdar). I had stayed on the sets for five days on the trot. It was for a one-and-a-half-minute scene where I had to say the dialogues in front of Soumitra Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee, Satabdi and Tapas Pal.

The third is Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Ami Yaseen Aar Amar Madhubala. I am very satisfied with my work in the film.

Directors as mentors:

In my early phase, I had the opportunity of working with Tapanda (Tapan Sinha) in Atanka and I have also worked with Tanuda. Of late Rituparno Ghosh has played a very important role in my career. It was also great working with Prabhat Roy. With Swapanda (Swapan Saha) I share a different level of understanding.

Five things you didn’t know about Prosenjit:

My first crush was...
Lady Diana, since the time she got married to Prince Charles. I wanted to have a candlelight dinner with her.

My hobby is to...
Watch a film every night before going to bed. It’s like reading a book before dozing off. Earlier I was hooked to the carom board.

My most expensive buys have been...
A digital camera and a new Accord car, which I bought three months ago.

My favourite food is...
Rice, dal and alu posto.

My most embarrassing moment was...
When a girl came up to kiss me while I was shooting in Digha. She approached some of the technicians to arrange it. She was willing to even bribe her way through!

 

Kushali Nag
Who is Prosenjit’s best screen partner? Tell t2@abpmail.com