The charming youth of Basu Chatterjee’s Hothat Brishti vanished from Tollywood just when he was being counted as a leading man. The Dhaka-based Ferdous has returned to Calcutta after a sabbatical to act in Aaynate, where his co-stars are Rati Agnihotri and Rituparna Sengupta.

A t2 chat...

You sport a different look this time...

Yes, I have changed my look a little. I have grown my hair long but I have put on weight. I am hitting the gym regularly and I am also on a diet. I hope to look the way I used to very soon.

What do you play in Aaynate?

I am a writer who is in a relationship with Ritu (Rituparna). But there’s a lot of emotional conflict between the two as he wants to join his father’s business and Ritu’s character wants him to pursue writing. I don’t have too many scenes with Rati Agnihotri (who plays a social worker and a friend of Rituparna).

This film is different from what you have done in Tollywood so far...

Yes, it is a women-oriented film but I found my role pretty interesting. In fact I have been looking for something like this for a long time. I have been part of many commercial films where I beat up baddies and sang songs around trees. Now I want to do slightly off-beat films. Besides, I no longer belong to the age group where I can fit into the role of a hero who dances and prances around heroines. I have done over 20 films with Ritu and she wanted me in Aaynate, so I agreed.

So, it’s bye bye to commercial films...

No, not really. I can’t survive if I don’t do commercial films. Back in Dhaka, I have done over 90 commercial films and around 24 in Tollywood. That’s quite a long list.

You left Tollywood when you were being counted as a hero. Why?

I never left Tollywood. I just took some time off from this industry one-and-a-half years back. Actually it was getting a bit hectic for me, travelling back and forth and putting up in hotels. There were some personal problems too. Besides, I belong to Dhaka and I wanted to go back to my roots and do films there. I didn’t want to give up my identity of a Bangladeshi actor.

Which was your last film in Tollywood?

Swapan Saha’s Praner Swami with Ritu in 2006. There are a couple of other incomplete films like Nashto Meyer Galpo and Jhoro Hawa. And Biyer Lagno opposite Rachana released last month.

What’s next?

I’m supposed to do a film by Satarupa Sanyal. Nothing has been finalised. I will be back later in June to sign the project.