Partho Ghosh

He had come to Tollywood to make films nine years ago but headed back west disillusioned, despite delivering a hit. Bollywood director Partho Ghosh is now returning to his roots again with two Bengali films — Rehamat Ali and Tobu Mone Rekho — and a lot more determination.

A t2 chat...

Rehamat Ali and Tobu Mone Rekho sound complete opposites...

Rehamat Ali is a remake of my film Ghulam-E-Musthafa that had Nana Patekar and Raveena Tandon. The Bengali film is with Mithun Chakraborty and Rituparna Sengupta. Mithun plays Nana’s role and Rituparna Raveena’s. I think the story of Ghulam-E-Musthafa is still relevant. It’s also a love story between a husband and a wife. Right after that, I will shoot Tobu Mone Rekho, which is a period piece with Debasree Roy and Sabyasachi Chakraborty. It’s a love story set in the Thirties. It will be shot in Calcutta, while Rehamat Ali will be shot in Hyderabad.

Why are you doing a period piece?

I want to offer something new to the audience. We want to capture the era of Rabindranath Tagore in Tobu Mone Rekho. It’s a different kind of a love story. We will have Rabindrasangeet and Baul. Tanmoy Bose is the music director and Agnimitra Paul is the costume designer.

Why didn’t you make more Bengali films after Sindoorkhela?

Sindoorkhela (2001) was a huge hit. It had Prosenjit, Rituparna and Tapas Paul. But my distributors did not pay me even a rupee! So I decided to go back to Mumbai and made films like 100 Days, Dalaal, Ghulam-E-Musthafa, Yugpurush and Agni Sakshi.

How did you make it in Mumbai?

I left for Mumbai in the Seventies with the job of a textile engineer. I worked for 14 years and then I met the late Basu Bhattacharya who was making Griha Pravesh. I worked with him as an assistant. Then I assisted Gulzaarsaab in Kinara. Then finally I directed the film Tere Bina Kya Jeena with Moon Moon Sen and Shekhar Suman.... Born and brought up in Dum Dum, I have always wanted to do Bengali films. But this time I am more organised. I will distribute my own films. Hopefully, the experience won’t be like last time.

Are you making any Hindi films?

I have finished shooting three films. Signature with Shilpa Shetty, Esha Deol and Milind Soman is ready for release. Then there’s Ek Second Jo Zindagi Badal De starring Jackie Shroff, Manisha Koirala and Rosa Catalano. I have also finished Mastana with Govinda and Mahima Chaudhry. Now I am going to Germany to make the bilingual film Sazaa, with Manisha Koirala and her brother Siddharth, and Dia Mirza.