Prosenjit. Picture by Aranya Sen

A poet with little clue about worldly matters in Shob Charitra Kalponik and a money-minded man in Mama Bhagne — Prosenjit tells t2 how he flits between the worlds of art and commercial films...

What do you play in Mama Bhagne?

I am the Bhagne (nephew) who loves only money. Ranjitda (Mullick), who plays my Mama (uncle), is after honey, basically pretty girls (laughs). Mama Bhagne is about the antics of these two characters. It’s a laughathon. Mama believes marriage is the most important thing in life but Bhagne believes money rules the world.

You’ve teamed up with Ranjit Mullick after a long time…

Yes, we had started out almost at the same time. He did a couple of films before I joined the industry. I have been very close to him since our first film Shatru. We’ve done several films together since.

You’ve also done a lot of films with Mama Bhagne director Anup Sengupta…

Yes, I have done around 35-40 films with him. I will continue to do potboilers because people like these films. And don’t be under the misconception that I don’t work hard for commercial films. Over the years I have grown as an actor and I do justice to all my roles — be it art, middle of the road or commercial films. Potboilers are my bread and butter, and that’s why I want to promote Mama Bhagne the way I promote my art films. We belong to a poor industry and I can’t afford to do only two films a year.

Did you have fun shooting Mama Bhagne?

Oh yes! We shot the entire film in Hyderabad. There’s a song sequence where Ranjitda and I swing to a peppy track with foreign dancers (picture above). Boudi (Mullick’s wife) was there with us. She was watching the shot and staring at me, while Ranjitda was holding the girls and shaking a leg with them! So I told Boudi to turn away and let Ranjitda enjoy. It was great fun!

You too have shaken a leg with firang babes in the film...

Yes (laughs). It’s a first for me! But I didn’t find it any different. We are used to dancing with co-dancers and having foreigners on the set wasn’t very different. Except that the song has got a very hot look because of the kind of clothes they wore!

Shob Charita Kalponik, Mama Bhagne and then there’s Houseful coming up. Don’t you think your audience gets divided?

No, it has happened before. Shibaji and Rituparno Ghosh’s Khela had released on the same day.

How would you rate Ananya Chatterjee as your heroine?

Ananya has a screen presence. She dances well, acts well. She should have done mainstream films long ago. She is very good.