In 2014, Jisshu Sengupta and Saswata Chatterjee — yet to begin the shoot of their first Byomkesh Bakshi film as Byomkesh and Ajit — were in a Bolpur hotel watching television over dinner, after wrapping up the day’s shoot for a film. “Satyajit Ray’s Chiriakhana came on one of the channels. Apuda said, ‘Just watch the film.’ That was the night I knew what I have to do,” says Jisshu, whose Byomkesh O Chiriakhana, directed by Anjan Dutt, released this Friday. t2 caught Jisshu in a relaxed mood in his south Calcutta office a few days before release... 

What decision did you take after watching Ray’s Chiriakhana on TV? 
I knew whatever Uttambabu and Abir (Chatterjee) did as Byomkesh... I wouldn’t walk on that path. I figured out how to make it different. That became clear while watching Chiriakhana. Abir Chatterjee has played one of the finest Byomkeshses to have come on film and television. 

Do you get the Friday jitters before a film release? What’s the difference from last year when your first Byomkesh Bakshi film came out?
I usually don’t get tense on the eve of the release of my film. But last year I was tense because I didn’t know if people would accept me as Byomkesh or not. I’ll probably get tense while shooting a film, not before the day of the release. There’s no point worrying over the fate of the film. The day I’ll not be tense before the camera when shooting, that would be my last day. I need that, it drives me and I need to push myself.

I am more hopeful and confident about my Byomkesh O Chiriakhana because I know what I have done, I know how I have improved. Now I know what exactly I have to do. This Byomkesh gets angry, agitated, emotional at times, his eyes well up, he fights with Ajit.... As an actor I believe in myself. I also know my limitations. I am more confident now. I’ll work on things that I can do and make it better.

When did you find out you’d be playing the role played by Uttam Kumar in Chiriakhana? Comparisons would be inevitable...
When I was shooting my first Byomkesh film, Anjanda told me that Chiriakhana would be the next. I can’t stop the comparisons. Before I went into the shoot, I told myself there’s no point thinking about Satyajit Ray and Uttam Kumar. They are legends. I can’t even think of getting into their shoes. So I stepped back and made myself understand that I’d give my best. I didn’t watch the Ray film before I went into the shoot because I didn’t want to get influenced. I had seen it earlier. If people compare, it’s not fair on me. My understanding of Byomkesh is that this guy has a dual character. He is dark at one level and then he is also shongshari. He has a family, his friend Ajit stays with him. Byomkesh is very progressive, upmarket, in touch with reality.
  
Saswata and you share a crackling chemistry... 
A lot of hero-heroines will be seen in the Puja releases, but I feel Apuda (Saswata) and I have the best chemistry. We have grown up together, he is senior to me. We knew each other from childhood. I have seen Apuda doing water ballet in Anderson Club and vice versa. We have worked in telefilms and tele-serials together. That has worked in our favour.  He is one of the finest actors in the industry. He is witty and is a foodie and many don’t know that he works out at home. We have a WhatsApp group for Tolly actors where Mahuadi (Saswata’s wife) gives proxy for him. ‘Apuda will be there,’ she says. Apuda only carries a mobile phone for out-of-town shoots which he uses to speak with family members.

We scripted a few situations and Jisshu acted them out

 

Arindam Chatterjee
Pictures: Pabitra Das
Is Jisshu the best Byomkesh? Tell t2@abp.in

 

ANJAN DUTT ON WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH BYOMKESH O CHIRIAKHANA

What’s it about: Byomkesh O Chiriakhana is about a bunch of ex-convicts/ criminals (male and female) who are brought together by a retired judge who wants to reform them in his farm called Golap Colony. But old habits die hard and crime unleashes. As Byomkesh steps into the scenario, one by one bodies fall...
Why watch it: 
1. You always long for a good, old-fashioned detective story. My Byomkesh has always lived up to that nostalgia.
2. Chiriakhana is perhaps the most popular Byomkesh story (thanks to Satyajit Ray and Uttam Kumar) and you want to know how different our version is.
3. It is more evolved and technically richer than the previous four films, in terms of mounting, scale, thrills.   
4. Byomkesh is far more human in this film. He makes mistakes, loses his cool, is angry at himself, even cries silently, but in the climax becomes the cool, sharp, suave Bakshi that you admire. 
5. Those of you who know the story will still be gripped because we have structured it in such a way that you will keep guessing when and how. Those who do not know the ending will be shocked. 
6. Because our Byomkesh is filled with a very powerful supporting cast, playing the suspects. They are not stars but very good actors. Finally, performance matters.
Director’s take: I have stuck to the text where Ray changed it. I have changed where he did not. In this version, everyone has a motive. Everyone is dark. Byomkesh desperately regrets his mistakes, and Jisshu has broken the typical image of the cool, sharp Bengali and given a far more complex and human Byomkesh. The pace is snappier. We introduce the villain of the forthcoming Byomkesh into this story and you know that Byomkesh is going to tilt towards action in the future.