Prosenjit at The Bridge, The Park. Picture by Amit Datta

You’ve played a cop in many films before. How’s 22shey Srabon so different?

Yes, I have played a cop in Agni, Greftaar, Lorai… But there’s no comparison between the cops I’ve played so far and the cop I play in 22shey Srabon. My character in 22shey Srabon is very bold and deadly. See, there are cops who are just not honest and dedicated. They believe that their only motive is to kill people who commit a crime. But killing is not the job of a cop. Such cops are mentally sick.

So, do you play a mentally sick cop?

No, no. We are going to keep the story under wraps... but he is a very lonely person. I play a man who was out of his job for a long time. June plays my wife. She appears in a few flashback scenes. I sport three different looks. I wanted a very different look, something very striking. I sport salt-and-pepper hair in one.... I have always played with my looks, even in real life; nowadays I am seen more in T-shirts and a sling bag. I might sport this look in a film, who knows!

Does the character have negative shades?

Bolbo na (laughs)! Let people wonder if he is negative or positive.

Is this your first crime thriller?

No. I have done crime thrillers before. I did Nishi Trishna.... Tapas (Pal), Debasree (Roy) and I had done a crime thriller, Sujit Guha was the director... I don’t remember the name [Lal Mahal]. But I haven’t been a part of a crime thriller recently. Crime thrillers are few and far between in Tollywood. Feluda and Bomkesh films are the only crime thrillers we have. A crime thriller like 22shey Srabon hasn’t been made in a long time.

This is your second film with Srijit Mukherji after Autograph. How has he grown as a director?

Srijit has become technically sound, his level of confidence has gone up. During Autograph he would often tell the cameraperson, after a shot, that he wanted it differently. During 22shey Srabon he would order that the camera be placed exactly where he wanted. I think, technically, 22shey Srabon is a better film, in terms of shot division, shot-taking….

Autograph was focused on you, while 22shey Srabon has an ensemble cast...

No, see, this is very interesting. Nowadays I don’t do films on the basis of how many frames I have. Indraneil (Sengupta) and Nandana (Sen) had more screen time than me in Autograph. But my character was vital and I knew that despite less screen time, I will give a memorable performance. Similarly, 22shey Srabon boasts of a very good star cast; the script is such that the focus cannot be on one character. The typical hero concept isn’t there in 22shey Srabon. It was the team’s decision to not focus too much on Prosenjit. Param (Parambrata Chattopadhyay), Goutamda (Ghose), Abir (Chatterjee), Raima (Sen), Rajesh (Sharma) play very important characters.

Why Prosenjit has acted in a multi-starrer that people will know when they see the film. Either we will get brickbats or people will say that only I can be so brave. I don’t think any other Indian actor, specially a hero, would dare to do a role like mine in 22shey Srabon. Nowadays no director approaches me if the role isn’t meaty enough because I am at a stage where I am more comfortable refusing roles than accepting them. So, they know if they have to motivate me, they have to come up with something different.

Autograph or 22shey Srabon, which has been more challenging?

Accepting 22shey Srabon was a brave decision. See, at the end of the day Autograph may not be my biography but there are snapshots of my life in the character. To play a superstar in Autograph who has controlled the market is something that I have heard about myself for the past 30 years. In 22shey Srabon I have literally broken myself into pieces to get into the character. Srijit is like Farhan Akhtar, he makes slick, sensible, commercial films yet the characters remain with the audience.

This is the first time you and Parambrata are working together...

Yes. According to Srijit, Param and I are like Uttam Kumar-Suchitra Sen in the film (laughs)! The bonding between us was very important. People won’t really feel that this is our first film. That’s because I don’t consider my co-stars as competitors.

How was it working with the rest?

Well, I have very few scenes with Raima. She plays Param’s girlfriend. I am more like her guardian in the film. And though Goutamda was my director for Moner Manush, on the sets of 22shey Srabon he was just another actor doing his job. He never tried to direct me. We did rehearsals together. We enjoyed doing the film.

The songs sound very good...

I am very fond of the music. Gobhire jao is my favourite track. 22shey Srabon is also special because it will release on my birthday (September 30).

Kushali Nag

Will you watch 22shey Srabon for Prosenjit? Tell t2@abp.in