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He had penned the script for Natobar Not Out, which released last year. Now, scriptwriter and director Kamaleswar Mukherjee is ready with his directorial debut Urochithi (produced by Manu Mallhotra and Ajjay Bakliwal) with an ensemble cast to hit the screens on August 12.
A t2 chat….
What is Urochithi all about?
Urochithi is an urban film revolving around 12 characters. The main protagonist of the film is Aniket played by Indraneil Sengupta. One day he deletes one SMS after the other and the film goes into flashback mode. The 12 tracks are not individual stories. They are interlinked. I have also addressed the ill-effects of recession, which is there as a backdrop. Recession hits Aniket, a software professional, hard and his relationship with everyone around changes.
Indraneil apart, who plays what in the film?
Sreelekha (Mitra) plays Indraneil’s wife Raka. The two share a love-hate relationship. She is suffering from extreme boredom. Tanusree plays Lillete, an airhostess, who Aniket meets at a pub; what starts off as lust soon turns into love. There are some bold scenes involving the two. She is the other woman in Aniket’s life. Anjan Dutt plays Aniket’s physics professor, Farhad. The two share a great bond. Rudranil Ghosh plays Aniket’s childhood buddy Kevin. Sudipta plays Sonia, Kevin’s partner. Biswanath Ghosh plays Suhas, Aniket’s para friend, and Locket Chatterjee is his wife. Saswata Chatterjee plays Manish, Aniket’s colleague. Resshmi Ghosh and Kaushik Ghosh are Aniket’s bosses. Biswajit Chakraborty is Aniket’s estranged father.
Why did you choose Indraneil to play the protagonist?
I had selected the actors at the scripting stage. I wanted his kind of looks for the role. Indraneil is a very good actor and has a very urban face. He has done a brilliant job.
And the rest?
Well the second most important character in Urochithi is Sreelekha’s. She is a brilliant actress and is skilled in her craft. I chose Tanusree to play Lillete because she suits the role of someone who likes going to pubs. Besides, I needed a good-looking actress because Aniket, despite having a beautiful wife at home, falls for her. The rest — Rudranil, Sudipta, Resshmi, Kaushik, Locket and Biswanath fit the bill. For Farhad’s (Anjan) character I needed someone who’s a great actor and I consider Anjan Dutt to be one of the greatest actors in Indian cinema.
Wasn’t it difficult shooting with so many frontline actors?
No, I had no difficulty shooting the film with so many actors. That’s because I did not require all of them together for a shot, since everyone has a different track. Besides, they were all very co-operative and so we could finish shooting in 32 days flat.
Films with too many characters often fail, Natobar Not Out being a prime example...
Well, I don’t think there should be any problem with Urochithi just because it has an ensemble cast. The characters are a requirement of the script and I couldn’t write the script without including the 12 characters. They help in taking the story forward. Each track has a conclusion, I haven’t left any track haphazardly and there’s no confusion.
Finally, why is it called Urochithi?
(Laughs.) Well, there’s no Bengali translation for SMS and since SMS plays an important role in the film I thought of the best alternative to SMS, Urochithi.
