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Arre! Hero lomba achhe boss, cholbe!
Devda! Apnar haat-ta dhorbo...
Devda! Edike ektu dekhun...
A bunch of boys (and some girls) made a dash towards Dev the moment he stepped out of his Honda City at Indira for the matinee show of Challenge on Wednesday. The fan frenzy drove home the point that Dev has arrived. He’s the new prince of Tollywood, if not the king yet. Basking in the success of the one-week-old Challenge, Dev tells t2 about his journey from Bandra to Tollywood...
Deepak, the struggler
How did you, an engineering student, stray into acting?
After my diploma in computer engineering, I was thinking of doing an MBA when my father introduced me to directors Abbas-Mustan, whom he knew personally. They were shooting Taarzan — The Wonder Car and they asked me to join them as an observer. I went there for a couple of days and then I got admitted to Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute. My father was shattered! But I insisted that he give me a year to prove myself. My mom was very supportive.
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| Raj with the Challenge audience at Indira. Picture by Aranya Sen |
And when did Tollywood beckon?
After the acting course, I met Sujit Mondal (director of Saat Pake Bandha with Jeet-Koel), who was assisting Vikram Bhatt. I was allowed to be an observer on the sets of Elaan. At that time, director Sujit Guha had gone to Mumbai to shoot Agnipath with Indra Kumar and I met his cameraman Babul Roy. One morning, I got a call from Babulda, asking me to come to Calcutta. My father was very upset but I packed my bags. I put up in a lodge in Sealdah.
Babulda introduced me to Swapan Saha, Haranath Chakraborty and Biresh Chatterjee. But most of them rejected me, saying that I was too tall, well-built and that I should wear braces on my teeth. I left Calcutta, depressed. Biresh Chatterjee later called me for Saathihara but it didn’t work out. Then Prabir Nandy signed me for Agnishapath opposite Rachana Banerjee. I was scared because until then I had never watched a Bengali film and the only actors I knew from Bengal were Bumbada (Prosenjit), Chiranjit and Tapas Pal.
| Sagittarian CV |
| Real name: Deepak Adhikary Pet name: Raju Height: 6’1’’Weight: 80kg DoB: November 25 Was born in: Bandra, Mumbai Family hails from: Midnapore. Father runs a catering business in Mumbai Classroom: Purushottam High School, Bandra; Diploma in computer engineering from Bharatiya Vidyapith, Pune First film: Agnishapath opposite Rachana Banerjee in 2005 His idols: Govinda, Raj Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Abhishek Bachchan |
Agnishapath was a flop...
Yes, it didn’t do well. I had played a garage mechanic. But before I started shooting for Agnishapath, I had got a call from Shree Venkatesh Films. They signed me for I Love You. Shrikant bhaiyya (Mohta) of Venkatesh gave me a flat in Deshapriya Park and I shifted from the Sealdah lodge. He also wanted to change my name, Deepak Adhikary. I suggested Dev, and he agreed.
I Love You was a good launch pad...
I was on cloud nine after I Love You became a superhit but I went into an acute depression soon after as I had no work for 14 months. I went back to Mumbai. For a couple of weeks I did nothing. I hired a trainer to learn dance. I trained with fightmaster Aejaz Gulab (Shootout at Lokhandwala and Mission Istanbul). But at the end of the day, I would wonder if all these would yield any result.
Dev, the hero
Did things change with Premer Kahini?
Yes. At the start of 2006, Venkatesh called me for Premer Kahini and I came back to Calcutta. Premer Kahini became a hit and I didn’t look back. Next was Mon Maane Na. I became more responsible as an actor. I knew I had created a place for myself in the industry. Then Raj Chakraborty offered me Challenge. Now when I look back, I feel I hadn’t put in as much effort as I should have in I Love You. It became a hit by chance.
So, did you go an extra mile for Challenge?
I almost broke myself into pieces! My homework began eight months before we started shooting. Rajda told me our story was the weakest point, and we had to get away with style, attitude and presentation. So I got a haircut, worked out, lost weight and built my muscles. I shopped for new clothes. I changed my walking style. It was difficult because I had to sport an angry look all the time. I had to be something between a Sunny Deol and a Hrithik Roshan. It was also the first time that a Tolly hero was dancing with foreigners, so I wanted to make sure that I didn’t get lost among them.
How have Prosenjit and Mithun Chakraborty reacted to your arrival?
Mithunda is very chilled out. He calls me Debu. Bumbada (Prosenjit) has said that I am good.
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Where do you see yourself among Jeet, Jisshu Sengupta and Hiran?
Jeet is more of a friend. Jisshu has done more films than I have. He is my senior. I don’t compare myself with anyone. I am my own competitor.
What next?
I have finished shooting for Ravi Kinnagi’s Paran Jaay Joliya Re. Now I am doing Dujone with Shrabanti. There’s another film with Raj Chakraborty at the end of the year.
How do you feel about the fan frenzy post-Challenge?
This is awesome! This is all I have dreamt of... my dream come true. But at the same time I have a bigger challenge to stick around for another 25 years. And I hope the number of fans keeps increasing every year!
Eighteen years ago, Raj Chakraborty would wait outside the Tollygunge studios, hoping to get noticed and bag a role. For his only dream was to become a TV actor. Having delivered two hits on the trot — the Rs 70-lakh Chirodini... Tumi Je Aamar brought home Rs 10 crore, while Challenge has released in 101 halls, a first in Bengali cinema — Raj is now known as the director with the Midas touch. Raj cracks the Tollywood code for t2...
Tell us your box-office secret...
See, I was very careful from the start. I didn’t want to make the mistakes my predecessors had made. The directors I have grown up watching — like Kaushik Ganguly, who was my idol — made films that were big flops. So, for me the vital questions were what film should I make, why should I make it, how should I make it and for whom should I make it? I went to the halls and watched films by Swapan Saha, Haranath Chakraborty and Ravi Kinnagi, and I learnt what the audience liked and didn’t like. But this was the audience I wanted. My canvas needed to be big, my audience had to be big, my remuneration would be big. So that someday I may even get offers to make Hindi films.
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| Raj with the Challenge audience at Indira. Picture by Aranya Sen |
Are people from the suburbs your only target audience?
No, everyone who watches commercial Bengali films. There are people who will listen to Pappu can’t dance sala but cringe when my song goes Challenge nibi na shala. I don’t think about that audience. Challenge is drawing all kinds of people. I met students from St Xavier’s and Jadavpur University, and some people from the IT sector at the Challenge shows in Priya and Fame.
I think the Bengali commercial audience should be paid for watching films in halls with such poor projection, bad sound and in the terrible heat. They are bored of the same thing. If you give them something slightly different, they will worship you! Swapan Saha has made so many hit films, so has Harada. I will have to keep them in mind if I want to be here for a long run. This is the audience that gives a business of Rs 10 crore to Chirodini! Challenge will do even better.
In what ways have you deviated from the routine format?
I decided to work on a story people are familiar with. I just changed the packaging and the storytelling. When I did Chirodini, I concentrated only on the story and the characters. Challenge has just a one-line story with a bit of exaggeration. For instance, you don’t pluck someone’s eyes like that and no father is so possessive about his daughter. But I felt that’s what the audience wanted. I just wanted people to be riveted to the film. I changed the look, the costumes, the props, the stunts, the music, the dialogues. The camera movement is different. I changed the shot division, so the storytelling was different. In short, it was a different package.
Besides, I make my characters convincing. Before going on the floors, I hold a 20-day workshop for the entire team, where I explain to even the boy who would be just standing in one scene why he would be doing that.
| Raj on his roots |
| ‘I never thought I would become a filmmaker someday. I had wanted to be an actor. I have grown up in Halishahar and I would cycle from home to the station everyday to catch a train to Calcutta. Some friends used to make fun of me, saying that I would sell nuts on the train some day. I felt bad and I doubted if acting was the right choice for me. I used to do puppet shows and theatre back then. But I never got the chance to act in a Calcutta theatre troupe. I would attend rehearsals of a city troupe and they would ask me to fetch tea... It has taken me 10 years to enter the Tollygunge studios because I had no reference. I approached Arindam Dey for work, when he was making the serial Panchu Mitra Lane with Rudranil Ghosh. He agreed to take me as an assistant. The first day, everyone handed me their clothes and shoes and left for shooting. Slowly, I got involved with production work. I would spend my spare time in the edit suite, trying to learn shot division. I went solo in 2005 and directed 17 telefilms, plus reality shows like Dance Bangla Dance and Mirakkel. Now, the acting bug has gone out of my head. Rituda (Rituparno Ghosh) had called me for a role in his film but I said no. Since I never got an opportunity to act, I love giving a break to newcomers. Partha, who played Dev’s friend in Challenge, is getting film offers now. Would you believe he would travel all the way from Agarpara everyday and hand his photos to the studios, but no one gave him a chance!’ |
Chirodini and Challenge have a similar storyline. Why don’t you work on new stories?
Look, I can’t change everything at one go. I will change the story in my fourth film. Before that I need to fortify my position. Besides, the audience’s vision hasn’t changed yet. I can’t do a U-turn all of a sudden now.
Will your fourth film be experimental?
No, it will be for everyone but definitely very, very different. It can be a Slumdog Millionaire.
What is your next move?
I am still thinking. I haven’t hit upon a brilliant idea yet.
What kind of films do you want to make?
All kinds of films. I want to make a film on Bipradas (a character from a Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay novel), on Siraj-ud-daulah, on football. I want to make entertaining family dramas. Films like Rang De Basanti, Black and Chak De! can be made in Bengali. I will stagnate if I only make maar-danga films like Challenge.
What do you think is wrong with commercial Bengali films?
Most of the films are made on very low budgets, compromising on the production quality. There is no novelty in the stoytelling, the actors are not convincing. I found it difficult to relate to the characters.
Our producers want to work on new concepts but they are scared of the audience. They don’t know whether people will like them or not.
We need more GenX directors, new concepts. We have professional editors and cameramen, but no professional writers. We need people to write scripts fulltime. For instance, I can’t write. I can come up with concepts and I can add shades to a story. I want people to come to me with new ideas so that I can pick and choose.
What is your message for Dev? Tell t2@abpmail.com