(From top) Saheb, Ushashie, Nandana and Soumitra shoot in Santiniketan. Pictures by Aranya Sen

Returning to the floors after a three-year break, Sekhar Das feels his new film Kaler Rakhal will complete the trilogy that he had begun with Mehulbonir Sereng and Krantikaal.

In Santiniketan, a motley cast comprising Nandana Sen, Soumitra Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Saheb Chatterjee and Ushashie Chakraborty have gathered to shoot some sequences. Those who didn’t join the Santiniketan team include Roopa Ganguly, Chandreyee Ghosh, Rudranil Ghosh, Kunal Mitra and Debesh Roy Chowdhury.

The film is about two journeys. One is of a non-resident Bengali girl called Aparna Basu (Nandana), who comes to Tagoreland as part of a TV crew from Germany to shoot a documentary on primitive folk jatra and bohurupis and “ends up making some extraordinary choices”. The second journey is of village boy Subal Mondal (Parambrata), who sings, acts and runs errands for political parties for a living. The two paths meet when Subal becomes the subject of Aparna’s documentary.

“He is a reflection of the changing face of rural India. Kaler Rakhal is an observation on the rural-urban interactions, which forms the basis of my trilogy,” explains Das.

Adda, music & more

The Kaler Rakhal team camps in Rabindrasangeet exponent Nilima Sen’s sprawling garden house in the Purbapalli area. Director Das greets everyone on the set with a “guten morgen” (“good morning” in German). The reason is that Soumitra, playing Chandrakanta Roy Chowdhury with a French beard and horn-rimmed glasses, will have to greet Nandana in German in the very first scene. “My character Chandrakanta is a very relaxed person with a lot of worldly knowledge. The TV crew has put up in my house and I provide them with a lot of information about the region,” reveals the veteran actor.

A couple of minutes later, Nandana strides with her mother Nabanita Dev Sen in tow. “Aami bhishon bhishon bhishon excited!” she tells Soumitra.

After a quick rehearsal, cinematographer P.B. Chaki is ready to roll the camera. Soumitra saunters to the garden, followed by Ushashie and Supriyo Bandopadhyay. Supriyo, a senior editor with a German radio station, is playing Krishnasakha, the filmmaker heading the German TV crew in Kaler Rakhal.

Das (far right) explains a scene to Nandana and Supriyo. Picture by Aranya Sen

Draped in a crisp cotton sari, Ushashie plays “Debjani, a sophisticated housewife who shares a long-distance relationship” with her husband. Ushashie takes her cue from Das and runs her lines.

“I play Debjani’s husband who lives in Tokyo. He comes back during a crisis and is perplexed about how to handle the situation,” said Saheb, in between the shots.

The hullaballoo in the garden house has drawn local women and children for a ringside view. “Can we meet Soumitrababu?” a few of them ask, thronging the wired fence.

Post-lunch, the scene shifts indoor. A table has been set with a full-course dinner for an adda on Chandrakanta’s travel adventures. As Soumitra, Supriyo and Ushashie settle down, Das tells them to step up the tempo. Nandana appears in a floral top and skirt, a white frangipani flower tucked in her hair, and starts digging into rice, dal and meat.

The camera rolls, the adda starts and Nandana breaks into the song Kolonkini radha. The director applauds. “It’s for the first time in my life that I’ve lipped a song!” smiles Amartya Sen’s younger daughter.