Dui Prithibi, which hits a record number of 200 screens across Bengal on October 14, brings Dev and Jeet together for the first time, alongside Koel Mullick and Barkha Bisht. A t2 chat...

We hear you are good friends off screen. Is that why both of you chose to do Dui Prithibi?

Jeet: Off screen, yes we are friends. I have known Dev since his I Love You days. I had called him to congratulate and told Moni (Mahendra Soni) and Shrikant (Mohta of Shree Venkatesh Films) that he was good. But I chose to do Dui Prithibi because it’s a Venkatesh production and Raj (Chakraborty) is the director.

Dev: We’re friends, definitely. If you are not comfortable with one another, it becomes difficult spending time on the sets. But friendship wasn’t why I decided to do Dui Prithibi. For me, it was just another film. When I’m offered a film, honestly, I look at my part only... what my role is, how much scope for performance I have and all that. There’s no time to think who else is doing the film or whether his role is more important than mine. In fact, I had rejected the film after reading the script because I felt I couldn’t do justice to my role. Such a performance-oriented role needed a very good actor and I still don’t consider myself a good actor.

What kind of a friendship do you share?

Jeet: Well, I have a lot of affection for Dev. I treat him like my younger brother.

Dev: We meet to discuss work, we talk on the phone sometimes. Before Dui Prithibi, it was more of a senior-junior relationship, the bond was missing. We had a gruelling 25-day schedule in Purulia and there were no other co-stars. In such circumstances, I think one bonds with even one’s enemy!

What do you like best about each other?

Jeet: Dev is very hard-working and a thorough professional.

Dev: Dada is humble and sweet. He is a complete package and that’s why everybody appreciates him.

What do you play in Dui Prithibi?

Jeet: I play a rich, spoilt brat who doesn’t know a thing about the real world. And then he falls in love with a girl (played by Koel) and the rest of the film is about his search for her.

Dev: I play a thief who steals motorbikes. I have my sights set on Jeetda’s imported bike and so help him on his journey to find the girl he loves. Dui Prithibi is a journey of these two characters. I have really worked very hard for this film. I did not take up any other film because I was growing a beard for it.

Were there any apprehensions about sharing screen space with another hero?

Jeet: No, I have done it before with Mithunda (Chakraborty) in Juddha, and with Jisshu (Sengupta) in Premi and Neel Akashe Chadni. I have also done films where my heroines had meatier roles than mine. So why would there be any apprehensions? Sometimes, you have to think about the larger interest, which is of the audience. Dui Prithibi is a gift to the fans of Jeet and Dev. This kind of two-hero film should happen more often in the industry. Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan did Karan Arjun at the peak of their career. I would like to work with Bumbada (Prosenjit) some day. Watching him on the sets would be quite an experience.

Dev: Being an actor, I am open to working with anybody. I am doing a film with Bumbada and I would love to work with Mithunda. I am open to working with any hero, even multi-starrers. See, there was no question of being jealous of Jeetda in Dui Prithibi because he is my senior. I would have been jealous had I been working with one of my contemporaries. And to be honest, Dui Prithibi is Jeetda’s film. He’s the main hero, I am just a filler. But my role is important.... I got to learn a lot from Jeetda and Raj took good care of both of us. He never let us feel that he was paying more attention to one and neglecting the other. Besides, the story is the star in Dui Prithibi and so if Raj had to edit out some of my scenes for the sake of the film, I had no issues.

In Tollywood, it’s difficult getting two heroes to work together. What factors work against it?

Jeet: Oh, that’s a pretty short question but the answer would take up an entire t2 supplement!

Dev: I think it’s insecurity. But you need the right banner to pull off a film with two heroes. In Bollywood, Yash Chopra has done it. Here, Shree Venkatesh Films has that kind of a hold. I think now a lot of Tollywood heroes are open to working in a two-hero or three-hero film.

Any memorable fun moments from the shoot?

Jeet: We had loads of fun during the outdoor shoots, specially the Yaara ve song sequence in Venice. We swam in the water in between shots and played pranks on the girls. It was great fun!

Dev: For one of the scenes, Raj made me down three bottles of Bangla mod (country liquor)! It was for a long emotional scene with Jeetda and I had a lot of dialogues too. I was so drunk as I had never had ‘Bangla’ before, but it was great fun! The shoot on the highway in Purulia, where we both were on the bike and trucks were speeding by us, was interesting. It needed a great deal of co-ordination between me and Jeetda. It would have been fatal had either of us slipped.

Whose chemistry do you think is better in the film — Dev-Jeet or Jeet-Koel?

Jeet: Let the audience decide that. I think one segment will like Koel and my chemistry, while another will like Dev and mine.

Dev: Definitely Dev and Jeet! That’s why we’ve been cast together.