Priyanka Trivedi and Jeet in Hello Memshaheb

He had to wait three years to release Ichche. But after the 75-day run of his debut, his second film Hello Memshaheb has promptly been picked up by Ashok Dhanuka. The times they sure have changed for Shiboprosad Mukhopadhyay.

A t2 chat with the director who is planning a sequel to Ichche and a “different” film with Rituparna Sengupta.

Ichche has completed 75 days in the theatres. What does that mean to you?

It means a lot, especially because Ichche was stuck for three years before release and very few people had faith in me while I was making the film. Ichche has already done business of Rs 2.30 crore. The film was made on a budget of Rs 50 lakh. The [value of] satellite and video rights too have shot up.

In terms of feedback, you wouldn’t believe the kind of love I’m showered with! The projectionist of Priya told me that there is so much repeat viewing and people have even memorised the dialogue. After a long time Bengali middle-class housewives have made a comeback to the theatres. The young generation is going to the halls with grandparents. So, generations of a family are watching the film. I have got calls from many mothers and they have just one request — make a sequel to Ichche. They want the son (in Ichche) to unite with the mother.

So when are you making the sequel?

(Laughs) Well, not before a year. But a sequel I will definitely make and with the same cast. It will be the same team of Nanditadi (Roy, co-director) me, Sohini Sengupta and Samadarshi (the mother and son in Ichche). And of course Rituparna (Sengupta) who supported the film right from the start (she presented Ichche). I have requested Suchitradi (Bhattacharya, writer, whose short story Ichcher Gaach inspired Ichche) to write the sequel.

The buzz is that Prosenjit has expressed his desire to work with you after watching Ichche...

I’m really honoured that an actor of his stature went to the theatres to watch Ichche. He appreciated my work a lot. We’ve had a very informal chat and both of us want to work together. I will be lucky if I can ever work with Dada (Prosenjit).

Samadarshi and Bidita Bag in Ichche

Life must have changed a lot for you after Ichche...

Certainly. The most significant change is that I have become very confident. Even a day before Ichche released I had nobody’s support, no one had faith in me. I was shooed away by producers saying that I carry bad luck because my debut film didn’t release. I would ask people to come home and showed them Ichche and waited for their reaction. All that has changed now.

I am no longer under any pressure. I can approach producers and they are ready to back my projects without laying down conditions. I have the liberty to cast anybody and select any story, an original story. So life has changed a lot.

Your second film Hello Memshaheb, which was stuck for over two years, is releasing next Friday. Do you think that’s because of Ichche?

My films are like Scotch, the older they get the better they are! There’s something called destiny, which I believe in and maybe the time wasn’t right, so my films didn’t release.

I’m happy because Hello Memshaheb is releasing in 130 theatres. A producer like Ashok Dhanuka is releasing it and I am sure because it’s a Jeet film, it will have a gala initial. And Jeet has given his career-best performance in the film.

What is Hello Memshaheb all about?

It’s about Jeet, who plays the CEO of a company who falls in love with Priyanka Trivedi after meeting her at a traffic signal. But he is confused about whether he should convey his feelings so he goes to her place in the guise of an Oriya cook. It’s a fun film on the lines of Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani.

Hello Memshaheb is an out-and-out commercial film. Won’t the Ichche audience be disappointed?

Not really. Hello Memshaheb is a very different film. I know Hello Memshaheb will do business for two weeks and then it will fizzle out. For a film like this, the initial collection is important. It’s not like Ichche, which is like wine, the taste grows on you. Ichche was like Test cricket, while Hello Memshaheb is like a T20 match.

22shey Srabon is releasing on the same day as Hello Memshaheb. Are you nervous?

No. As far as I know 22shey Srabon is for the urban crowd, while my film is targeted at the mass. Hello Memshaheb is a mass commercial film. There are six songs, an item number and a fast-paced story, which is a perfect concoction for the Puja audience.

What’s next?

Well, I am planning something very different with Rituparna. A film where she will be seen in a never-seen-before avatar. I will announce it soon. And my third film Accident, starring Kharaj Mukherjee, Rudranil Ghosh and others, is ready for release.