Chandan Sen on the sets of Abar Bomkesh.

The haughty district magistrate — and one of the suspects — in Anjan Dutt’s Abar Bomkesh is loving being in the thick of things after a tough fight with cancer. A t2 chat with the 48-year-old Chandan Sen...

You’ve had a long association with Anjan Dutt...

Yes, it’s a long acquaintance and it goes back to 1982-83 when Anjanda was also involved in theatre. We had done a play together... Manush Manush. Later on, Anjanda always gave me some interesting characters to play in his telefilms and films, like Madly Bangalee and Bow Barracks Forever.

Abar Bomkesh is a sort of comeback for you on the big screen after a long period of illness...

Yes, I was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma in May 2010. It’s cancerous and 37 per cent of my bone marrow is affected. I realised something was wrong when very unusual things started happening to me. I went to the doctor who suggested a biopsy. It took a month for me to inform my family and friends.... I had a long chat with myself. I wondered why it happened, how I’d get through it and, finally, I was ready to fight it.

What was the first thought that crossed your mind?

I was like ‘Oh shit!’ (Laughs) I asked my doctor to look into my eyes and tell me how many more days I had. The doctor told me ‘a full 10 years’. But he also assured me that in the next 10 years they expect new drugs and new methods to emerge and they might be able to give me five more years. So, 15 years is a lot of time! Yes, I’ll have to take 10-hour-long intravenous injections every three months but that’s it. Fact is, nothing lasts forever. People don’t know how long they are here in this world. For me, the difference is that I know my life span and therefore it’ll help me better my life and do things that I would have otherwise been careless about.

How much of a normal life do you lead now?

Not 100 per cent yet. I feel like I’m 95 per cent back to it, but in reality it’s 80. I have got back into the full swing of my career and I’m doing everything — rehearsing, shooting, thinking and reading… I did not allow myself to surrender. Even when my blood pressure was down to 60, I had a huge surgery on my brain and spine and was confined to a small room, I never stopped reading or trying to walk. In fact, after I recovered, my doctor suggested that I talk to fellow cancer patients over phone or meet them, which I do these days. It is important to encourage the will to fight this disease. So, when I talk to them about my experience of overcoming the initial hardships, it helps them as much as it heals me in the process.

Who or what has been your biggest support during this battle?

A huge number of technicians, actors and friends from politics have brought me back, helped me survive. The theatre fraternity, film and television-er lokjon shobai jhanpiye porechhilo. That’s why I’m here. At the same time, there are a lot of myths related to cancer that still exist. There were a few who cut themselves off from me when I was very ill. I came to know that some had come to my doorstep and inquired about me but were scared to come in contact. And there are thousands who had prayed for me. Alongside my mother, so many people have been by my side that I never felt alone. A lot of my overseas friends have helped me monetarily. I’m indebted to many.

Has all this changed you as a person?

It has changed me a lot, a lot! Twice during that phase, when I had my first chemotherapy and during my surgery, I felt I was going to die. It was a sudden realisation of what death must be like. It has made me very introspective. Previously, I used to think there’s a lot of time in hand. So I would easily push work back for another day. I’ve wasted so much time procrastinating. Now I realise I can’t. I think a lot about all that I’ve wanted to do and want to work towards that.

Such as?

I wanted to be a good actor but I don’t think I’ve been able to achieve even 30 per cent of that.... I want to play dark characters. I’ve played a villain in many films, but plain villainy is not all. It’s always more challenging to portray people who belong to the dark side of society.

You’ve mostly been seen in negative roles. Do you feel stuck in that image?

No, I’ve tried quite hard to break away from being typecast. Yes, I enjoy playing characters with dark shades, but I’ve also been doing comedy. Now directors and producers are open to casting me in fresh roles. I want to portray characters with various limitations, idiosyncrasies, agonies, ambitions and logic. On television, I’m getting to play affectionate, protective father, husband or uncle kind of roles. I play a hotel owner in Mukul Roy Chowdhury’s new thriller Taan, starring Rituparna Sengupta and Rajesh Sharma.

What is your dream role?

Something like Robert De Niro’s role in Awakenings! That would be the height of my achievement.

Did you always want to be an actor?

No, I wanted to be a cricketer. I was a medium-fast bowler and played first division cricket for 11 years. I even got selected in the Under-19 Bengal team!

How did you switch to acting?

I had got a role in one of Nandikar’s plays. I took it but failed miserably because I was trying to balance acting with playing cricket. That was when Rudraprasad Sengupta told me, ‘You’re not a genius’. I had to pick one — cricket or acting — and over the next three years I realised I was more into acting than cricket. In 1981, I directed my first play and then gradually got into acting.

How much are you still involved with theatre?

I live and breathe theatre. Without theatre I’m a dead man. Our group Natya Anan is working on Caesar, which will be a big production translated in Bengali from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. We will premiere it in May.