Tapan Saha with Billy Zane

Who: Tapan Saha

Claim to fame: Is co-directing Chimera, a “paranormal thriller” to be shot in Los Angeles, Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar. Chimera stars Billy Zane — whose most famous role was of Kate Winslet’s fiance in Titanic — and Bipasha Basu in her first-ever Hollywood film. Kunal Kapoor has been signed on for the film while Victor Banerjee, Shabana Azmi and Anil Kapoor have been approached for supporting roles. “Chimera is about an American doctor played by Zane who comes to India to work in a hospital in the hills and starts experiencing supernatural phenomena,” says Saha.

Background: Born in Mogra in Hooghly district, Saha’s interest in films was born early. He wrote, directed and even acted in a number of plays in school and college. “No one in my family watched English films, but from an early age I was drawn towards Hollywood fare. I used to cycle all the way from Mogra to watch classics like Dr Zhivago and Guns of Navarone at New Empire and Lighthouse,” says Saha.

After college, it was the actor in Saha who started dominating over the writer and like many young men of the time, Saha, then in his 20s, travelled to Mumbai to try his luck in tinsel town. “I met Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Ajoy Biswas for work but had to come back to Calcutta when my mother fell ill,” says Saha.

Once back in Calcutta, Saha started looking for avenues to fulfil his ambitions. A chance meeting with Ritwik Ghatak at NT1 Studios changed his life. “I was a Ritwik Ghatak fan. Meghe Dhaka Tara and Subarnarekha have left a lot of influence on me as a filmmaker,” says Saha.

The Mogra boy got talking to Ghatak on films and the conversation lasted more than two hours! “He later told me how impressed he was with my knowledge in films,” recalls Saha. Thereafter, Saha assisted Ghatak on his 1974 film Jukti Takko Aar Gappo. “I became very close to him. He used to share a lot about his life with me and spent his last days at my house,” says Saha.

Early days: Ghatak’s death in 1976 left a void in Saha’s life but he was determined to carry on his mentor’s legacy. His first film was the 1981 release Upolobdhi starring Mithun Chakraborty. “I have directed seven Tollywood films and produced three,” says Saha. Prosenjit starrers like Apon Por and Alingan followed, but Saha knew that his calling was elsewhere. Armed with a new script, he left for Mumbai. It was in Mumbai that Saha met yoga guru Bikram Choudhury. “His first words to me were: ‘Bangla chhobir director aar Hollywood-e cinema banabe! Paagol hoye gechho?’” laughs Saha. But Saha stuck to his guns and Choudhury — guru to the likes of Michael Jackson and Shirley MacLaine agreed to help out.

Choudhury shared Saha’s script with a number of friends, among whom was Michael Phillips, the co-producer of Robert De Niro’s Taxi Driver. “Phillips liked my script, he found it different,” says Saha. And before he knew it, Saha was flying off to America.

Bipasha Basu stars in Tapan Saha’s Chimera

Hollywood calling: Breaking into Hollywood was easier said than done. “I met a lot of people like Ron Colby and Ashok Amritraj, but nothing happened immediately. I didn’t stop trying. I even got myself a swank office in the same building that Charlie Chaplin had his office in,” beams Saha.

One fine day, things fell into place and N’Six Entertainments, a Hollywood production company spearheaded by Bollywood music-maker Tabun Sutradhar, agreed to finance Saha’s script. That is how Chimera was born.

“Billy Zane loved the script and agreed to be a part of the film,” says Saha. With a budget of 15 million dollars, Saha will co-direct Chimera with American television series director Daniel Silverman. Shooting starts in July.

The road ahead: Saha may not have even started filming Chimera, but he is already thinking big with his next project. Tentatively titled Lost Love, Saha hopes to sign on a mix of Bolly and Holly actors for the film. “My casting director has already spoken to Sharon Stone who has shown interest. I will film Lost Love in Calcutta,” declares Saha.