Picture by Pabitra Das

What has prompted you to turn producer?

I am exasperated with the way corporate houses make movies, especially in the regional industry. They are only bothered about the end product. They don’t get involved with the movie-making process at all, which creates a lot of problems. So I have decided to make my own films. I won’t make them for others. The initial investment will be mine and later if someone shows interest in presenting a film, we will surely go ahead.

Is it because of your experience with Reliance?

Yes. When Reliance’s Big Movies wanted to get into film production in Bengal, they came to me. They said the funding would be theirs, and I would have the creative freedom to choose the directors, scripts and casting for their films. So, I helped them set up their marketing and creative unit in Calcutta. But now I realise that they have just used me as a launch pad to get into our industry. They said all decisions would be mine but the ground reality was something else. They would take my inputs and then make their own decisions. I thought it was a sheer waste of my time and energy.

Second, all decisions for the regional unit would be routed through their Mumbai office. So, if shooting got stalled by a day because of rain or an actor’s illness, you would have to wait for days to get the nod from the Mumbai office to shoot for an extra day. This is ridiculous! You can never make films in this way. Corporates must realise this.

Third, their regional heads keep changing, which is a huge problem in taking a project forward. By the time the regional head understands the mechanism and starts work on a project, he is transferred. And then you have a new person and you have to take him through the whole process again. This is time-consuming and creates several bottlenecks. This is one of the reasons why so many Big Movies films are stuck... Ritu’s (Rituparno Ghosh) Abohoman, Shob Charitra Kalponik, Buddhada’s (Buddhadeb Dasgupta) Janala....

When are you launching your films? What films are you thinking of?

I am in the process of putting together my team. The film production unit should be up and running by October-November. We plan to launch a couple of films at that time. Anindya Banerjee (maker of mega serials Ekdin Pratidin and Ekhane Akash Neel) and Anindya Sarkar (maker of mega serial Sukh) are writing the scripts. They will direct the two films. I won’t get into distribution right away, not at least for the first two-three years.... Starting my film production house has been my dream. I know once I start, things will start falling into place.

What kind of films do you want to make?

Both massy and niche films. The films that Anindya Banerjee and Anindya Sarkar will direct will be total commercial entertainers. We will have to combine good storytelling with smart making. What I am ruing is the dearth of scriptwriters. I want to make crime thrillers, adventures, murder mysteries and, of course, the regular love stories. As a producer, my advantage will be my 15-year-long experience of guiding directors on how to make big films on small budgets. Second, my knowledge of what the audience likes, having worked in both massy movies and films like Dosar.

Won’t signing two first-time directors be risky?

No, they know their job. Besides, no big names now. Let’s start and then we will slowly have others.

Will you play the lead in all the films?

Not at alI. Of these two films, I will be in one. We will take young actors. I am in talks with Jeet, Jisshu (Sengupta) and Dev. Anindya Sarkar’s film may have Dev.

Several young directors want you in their films but you turn them down...

See, most of them tell me, ‘I can’t make films like Swapan Saha and Haranath Chakraborty’. The problem is neither can they tell stories like Rituparno Ghosh. My point is that if you don’t get your content right, no amount of magic hour camerawork or pretty framing around crystal glassware will do the trick. Look how Goutam Ghose’s Kaalbela has become a hit. It has a good story and for the audience it just doesn’t matter in what form you tell the story or what kind of a cast you have.

Don’t you think there aren’t too many takers for Swapan Saha and Haranath Chakraborty’s films anymore?

I am no one to judge but maybe their style of storytelling needs to change. But these people have given so many hits. Swapan Saha has given around 50 hits, Sujit Guha has 25, Haranath has 20-22, Anup Sengupta has 16-17…. They know how to read the public pulse and these people matter to me because they have given me many box-office hits in my career.

Your last potboiler Aparadhi didn’t do well at the box office...

Aparadhi released without any publicity but I am certain that my next release Badla will do well. See, not all films are of similar stature.... I am going to cut down on the number of massy films in the next couple of years. And anyway, I am doing slightly different roles even in commercial films now. I am not playing college students anymore! For instance, in Anup Sengupta’s Bangla Banchao I am someone who’s not young but fights for the youth. In Prabhat Roy’s Hangover Chollishe, I am a 40-plus man with all the crises that a man at this age goes through.

Why do you still need to do potboilers?

I am doing these films because at one point people had started talking that I had lost my box-office pull. And I wanted to prove that I hadn’t. Last year, Funtoosh and Ghar Jamai gave very good returns. When I sign a commercial film, I make sure that my producer recovers his cost. I have never hiked my fee to such an extent that it will affect the production.

What are the essential ingredients of masala movies that you do?

Well, a film should have a good story, a little bit of action, song and dance. People still love to see me dance. I realise this more when I do stage shows. The audience will say, ‘Guru, oi nachta ektu korun’. My films are mostly seen by the rural audience... in deep pockets like Howrah, Baruipur, Diamond Harbour, Burdwan, Midnapore, Bankura, North Bengal.

Don’t you think the kind of action you do is passe now?

The kind of action I do is definitely not the trend because it’s something only a Prosenjt or a Mithun Chakraborty can pull off. When there’s a close-up shot of me setting foot on the ground to beat up the baddies, there’s a thunder of applause in the hall. Only a star can handle such action scenes. When I do action, people accept it.

What kind of roles should Prosenjit do now? Tell t2@abpmail.com