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Is it the scar on his right cheek or his disarming smile, his 6’2” height or the fact that he is so adorably down to earth... we couldn’t decide what exactly makes our heart stop at the sight of Abir Chatterjee, but drool we did when the Tolly actor sat across us — the t2 fangirls — in the t2 office. And we were doubly happy to have the man we are crushing on as the first guest of a brand-new chat series involving a few lucky t2 readers and students. Excerpts from the marathon adda...
Saionee Chakraborty: Abir, Chandreyee has worn a sari just for you!
Abir: Thank you very much! Girls look best in sari. But it’s difficult to do office in a sari…
Chandreyee Chatterjee: Special effort!
Saionee: How do you react when someone dresses up for you?
Abir: I feel very happy (flashes that smile). It boosts my confidence.
Chandreyee: The entire team t2 is your fan. Did you ever think you would become such a heart-throb?
Abir: Not really. But I am indebted to t2. I have to hear a lot of things for this but I don’t mind. Keep it coming!
Kushali Nag: How does it feel to be surrounded by so many fangirls?
Abir: Great... great! Seriously. I was a little unnerved when I walked in! (Laughs) I’m used to one-to-one interviews....
Malancha Dasgupta: Did you have this kind of a fan-following since your college days?
Abir: In college I would bunk class and spend most of the time in the canteen. I wasn’t really popular in college, I used to be a backbencher at Goenka College. Rather I was popular in school (Laban Hrad Vidyapith, Salt Lake).
Saionee: Were you popular with girls?
Abir: It was a boys’ school, so didn’t get a chance.... The first two months at Jaipuria College, where I did my Class XI-XII, we would just stare the other way (turns his head to the side with a jaw-dropping expression) while the teacher would be in front!
Malancha: Who was your first crush?
Abir: I’ve never had a crush on any celebrity except Madhuri Dixit.
Chandreyee: And in real life?
Abir: In Class VIII someone had proposed to me in the drawing class. I was so scared that I didn’t go to the drawing class for two days!
Kushali: How many women have you dated?
Abir: Those who count and date, they are dangerous people! I have never counted.
Kushali: Does that mean you’ve dated many?
Abir: Well, ‘many’ is subjective. For some five is too many, for others four is many!
Kushali: You’ve dated four or five?
Abir: I haven’t counted, really!
Chandreyee: Do fans come and tell you they have a crush on you?
Abir: Yes, they do. This generation is very free and frank. They are very comfortable talking about these things. We were not so smart when we were younger. Some do cross their limits, but that’s rare. On Twitter and Facebook, my fans write sweet things.
Rashmi Adhikary (2nd year, MA, English, Calcutta University): Any incident where you felt embarrassed when a fan approached you?
Abir: I had done a serial called Bonhishikha for ETV Bangla, where I played a negative character. One day in Gariahat a group of middle-aged women recognised me and started yelling, ‘Aren’t you ashamed? Don’t you have any respect for women?’ I didn’t know what to do! I hopped into an autorickshaw and left. But after a while it felt good because I knew I had been convincing as a villain.
Saionee: When people come up to you and say you are cute and good-looking, how do you react?
Abir: Men shouldn’t feel shy (laughs)... but I do feel a little shy. Many people say that I have deliberately made this scar on my face. But the fact is I got it after an accident. I used to be quite upset about this scar. While doing my MBA, a female friend told me that it’s very nice. I was surprised...
Saionee: That’s become your USP...
Abir: A few also ask why I don’t go in for plastic surgery!
Kushali: Where do you think your sex appeal lies in?
Abir: I don’t know...
Kushali: Your eyes or...
Abir: Seriously, I have no idea!
Kushali: What does your wife say?
Abir: Does any wife ever discuss these things? When she (Nandini) was still a friend, she had said the scar on my face was good!
Kushali: And women in general?
Abir: They talk about my height... I am about 6’2”.
Chandreyee: I think he is the sweetest person.
Neha Banka: It’s actually the height.
Chandreyee: He seems very approachable.
Abir: Hmm... grounded!
Priyankar Patra: (1st year, journalism and mass communication, Asutosh College, and the only boy in the group): I like you because of the kind of roles you do.
Abir: This is a very interesting observation. People who know us through our work, they see only the work and the character.
Priyankar: Is there any reason why you mostly play character roles instead of playing a hero?
Abir: See, I’ve mostly done content-based films and most of my films are based on literature. From Bomkesh (Bakshi) to my next release Chaar, which is based on Saradindu Bandopadhyay’s short story Poriksha, I have done films where the script or the story is the hero.
Chandreyee: Is it your personal choice to not do hero-centric films?
Abir: No, I get offers to play these kinds of characters. But now I feel I should approach a script a little more seriously. I shouldn’t do one or two scenes in a film. I have done guest appearances in many films and I will not do anymore!
Bomkesh to Feluda
Chandreyee: Between Feluda and Bomkesh Bakshi, who is your favourite detective?
Abir: I have grown up reading Feluda, so my sentiments are with Feluda. I would tuck the Feluda books in the atlas and read. I was very weak in geography, so Feluda has gone into the system. Bomkesh, I read once in Class VII-VIII but when I read it in college I understood it better. Character-wise, Bomkesh is much stronger. But Feluda is our superhero, someone you look up too. Feluda can solve any problem. So I am slightly biased towards Feluda even though I played Bomkesh (in Anjan Dutt’s Bomkesh Bakshi and Abar Bomkesh).
Chandreyee: Now that you are also playing Feluda, are you apprehensive that people might forget you as Bomkesh?
Abir: If that happens then it’s good because Feluda will become popular. But I don’t think people will forget Bomkesh. When Soumitrajethu (Chatterjee) played Feluda, a rare combination had happened. The writer and creator of Feluda was the director (Satyajit Ray). We are at an advantage because we did a reboot by selecting Badshahi Angti, the first novel. Both Feluda and Topshe are new. After Soumitrajethu, Benuda (Sabyasachi Chakrabarty) was very popular as Feluda. But in Badshahi Angti, Felu is young. When I read the story after getting the script I felt that somewhere Felu is also testing himself if he is ready because he is still holding a bank job. Forget revolver, he doesn’t even have a visiting card as private investigator.
Kushali: Between Feluda and Bomkesh, which look did you like more?
Abir: Bomkesh has a retro look, very different. My look was different from Uttam Kumar’s (in Chiriakhana) and Rajit Kapur’s (in the Doordarshan serial). And I will never get another chance to wear dhuti-Panjabi. So the Bomkesh look was special.
Priyankar: Was it difficult to shift from Bomkesh to Feluda?
Abir: Yes, because though Feluda and Bomkesh are very different characters, there are a few basic similarities. So the challenge was how to be different because I am not really a method actor. I feel all the characters we portray are there inside us. If I look within, I am sure I will find a murderer or a cheater or a vulnerable lover somewhere. I try to bring those out.
Srijanee Ghosh (t2 reader): Do you remember a thrilling experience while shooting a film?
Abir: Cross Connection was my debut film and we had a 12-day outdoor in Mandarmani. We were all newcomers and it was like a picnic. We were all very sad when we were returning and till now whenever the song Mon giyechhe moner ghor plays on radio, we feel nostalgic. Recently for Badshahi Angti, we had a month-long shoot in Lucknow and Lakshman Jhula. There were no women on the sets apart from Bunidi (director Sandip Ray’s wife Lolita)! Lots of nice food but I couldn’t eat much because if Feluda gets a belly then it would be a problem. (Laughs)
Malancha: Of all the films you’ve acted in, which is closest to your heart?
Abir: Bomkesh will always be very special, no matter how many Feluda films I do.
Rashmi: Next month you have a film coming up, Chaar. What other releases are there in the pipeline?
Abir: Chaar is releasing on May 23, then there’s Joydeep Mukherjee’s Agun and Ranjan Ghosh’s Hrid Majhare.
Perfect boyfriend material
Saionee: You are a curious mix of Bangali bhadralok and an X factor, which cuts across all generations. How do you look at that?
Abir: It’s strange but I’ve noticed that 45-plus women like me the most! Mashima, Kakima and Didimara toh bhishon!
Chandreyee: You are perfect Bangali boyfriend material.
Abir: I find it very amusing.... Sometimes my friends tease me that all elderly women are my fans. I tell them that with age comes maturity, so the selection procedure becomes rigorous. They have seen life a lot more and the fact they are choosing me proves I have it in me! (Smiles) I am very lucky in a way because though I am a part of content-driven films, I have also done a few mainstream films like Prem By Chance, Bojhena Shey Bojhena or Kanamachhi.
Kushali: Are you conscious of your good looks?
Abir: In what way?
Kushali: Are you narcissistic?
Abir: Yes, all actors are narcissistic! We should be. But I don’t like too much grooming. Like I don’t like to go in for facials.
Kushali: You don’t hit the gym either?
Abir: I work out at home... but I might do a film with Raj Chakraborty and for that I might have to start gymming. Raj is a hard taskmaster. During the shoot of Proloy Aaschhe (Sananda TV), he would just snatch my plate away when I would be eating and hand me a bowl of curd!
Chandreyee: But you are a foodie...
Abir: Yes.
Malancha: If not acting, what other profession would you’ve chosen?
Abir: I was a share broker, not that I used to enjoy it a lot! Recently I watched The Wolf of Wall Street and it made me very nostalgic about my office. Whatever happens in the share market scene... we’ve actually seen and done those things! That excitement was always there.
Chandreyee: Is actor Abir the same as Abir before getting into films?
Abir: Almost, almost. I don’t think there have been too many changes. A few yes, but those are changes that happen to everyone as they age and gather experience.
Saionee: Who is an ideal woman for you?
Abir: I won’t say wife because that would be very boka boka! I think I am a very good friend, as a husband I would get a 4 on 10.
Saionee: And as a boyfriend?
Abir: 2... 3!
Saionee: Why?
Abir: Arrey, if I knew the answer I would be a much better performer!
Saionee: So something was wrong?
Abir: Yes!
Saionee: What?
Abir: Bolte nei. What I really like in a woman is her sense of humour. A woman with a sense of humour is a major turn-on. Or a woman with whom I can have a conversation with. That can be just gossip or something very serious. I have this image of being very serious!
Saionee: Yes. You are very cerebral.
Abir: No, no. Oto serious ami noi! Cerebral maybe, but not serious. I quite love gossiping! (Laughs)
Cute hubby and doting dad
Saionee: Are you still a big fan of Parineeti Chopra?
Abir: Yes.
Saionee: Alia Bhatt?
Abir: Alia Bhatt is very sweet. But I haven’t watched any of her films yet.
Srijanee: One Bollywood and Hollywood actress you’d like to date?
Abir: Parineeti (Chopra) definitely. And Scarlett Johansson.
Chandreyee: How does your wife react to your female fans?
Abir: The remote is in her hands. The wife is always a wife!
Chandreyee: Sixteen to 60 is almost the range of people who like you despite the fact that you are married and a father too…
Abir: That’s an added glamour! After I became a father, I noticed that my women followers on Facebook increased by the day! So, lady luck.
Chandreyee: You’re somebody to take home to...
Abir: Take home and do what!?
(Team t2 goes ROFL)
Saionee: What do you do to make your wife happy?
Abir: I doubt if she is really happy or not! Not very happy. No wife is ever happy with her husband!
Kushali: Are you a happy husband?
Abir: Yes, I am. We fight but we make up quickly. Now of course we don’t fight that much because of our daughter (Mayurakshi). There’s no time to fight or love!
Kushali: You are very conscious while doing bold scenes in films. Is it because of how Nandini would react?
Abir: See, nobody likes to get intimate in front of 40 people. And shooting an intimate scene is very technical. Normally the way I would kiss a girl I can never kiss an actress because I have to be aware of the lights, camera angles. Also because I feel that I would be judged. People may think that in personal life too I am like the character I am portraying. And I don’t like the fact that when there’s a bold scene in a film, it becomes the focal point of the film.
Malancha: How do you balance between work and home?
Abir: I run home the moment I am done. To my daughter.
Saionee: The last film you saw and liked a lot?
Abir: 500 days of Summer. Also Sherlock, the BBC series.
Chandreyee: Do you have an obsession with phones?
Abir: This is my wife’s biggest complaint. I am a BlackBerry person and I am on the phone all the time.
Chandreyee: Do you change your phones often?
Abir: No, I don’t change phones, neither cars nor clothes! I cling to the things I like. (Smiles the dimpled smile)
Kushali: Which male actor are you a fan of?
Abir: Amitabh Bachchan.
I also liked Abhay Deol and I am a fan of Aamir Khan too.
Saionee: Who would you pay to watch?
Abir: Bachchan any day.
Saionee: Your favourite fanboy moment with Bachchan?
Abir: I had met him at last year’s Calcutta Film Festival during the inauguration. I was in the same room with him for half an hour and I just gaped at him! There’s no picture of him on my phone because I just forgot to fish out my phone! I just shook hands with him.
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Pictures: Rashbehari Das
