Rajatava Dutta is a veteran when it comes to the Bengali stage and screen. Whether it’s plays like Winkle Twinkle or serials like Ek Akasher Neeche, Rajatava has always excelled. With Vishal Bhardwaj’s Kaminey, the actor has spread his wings westward. While his screen time is not much to write home about, within that limited space Rajatava has been able to put a Bengali face (and speech) to kaminapanti. Let’s hear it from the man himself...

THE ADDA: It was really uncanny. I was at this coffee shop on Prince Anwar Shah Road with a few of my friends and we were discussing the films and music of Vishal Bhardwaj. When I came back home, I got a phone call, where this lady wanted me to screen-test for Vishal’s next film. I was sure one of those friends at the adda was playing a prank. Eventually I realised that it was actually a call for an audition!

THE AUDITION: Debolina Mukherjee, the daughter of Sirshendu Mukherjee, took the screen-test. I was given a script and asked to enact that in front of the camera. I have done more than 60 Bengali films but this was my first ever audition. I wasn’t briefed about the character. So I just did three variations of the same character — one a drug addict, one cold-blooded, one a bit hyper. Two weeks later, Honey Trehan, Vishal’s chief assistant director, called me to say that I have been selected for the role.

Rajatava in Kaminey

THE ROLE: My presence in the film is not that much... ek dom-y shanghatik kichhu noy. But I didn’t know that beforehand because I only got the script once I reached Mumbai. I was told my character Shumon is the middle brother of a Bengali mafia family and is into horse betting and arms dealing. He loves his younger brother like his own son. And when something happens to him, he goes mad in vengeance. Very ruthless. Shahid’s character says somewhere: “Teenon bhai mental hai!” and that summed up the interactions between the three brothers. And since most of the scenes were between the Bengali brothers, they had no problems with the fact that I can’t speak Hindi well. They wanted me to speak like a Bengali.

THE LENGTH: It’s not that some of my scenes were chopped out from the film. Yes, the length of the scenes were longer but there were three scenes right from the start. The scene where we are introduced, the scene in the middle and the action scene in the end. You know we shot for 20 days for those three scenes. They were shot so elaborately. But I can imagine that the scenes had to be chiselled to bring the total screen time of the film down to 135 minutes. Not just mine, but many important scenes were shortened for maximum effect. But it’s true Vishal wanted to use me more. He told me so and that was a great compliment coming from him.

THE EXPERIENCE: Mindblowing! It’s not that I was dying to do a Hindi film. I am well aware of the fact that I can’t speak Hindi well. My main attraction was Vishal Bhardwaj. I really wanted to work with him and to see how he works. So, the reason for doing the film was more out of curiosity than anything else. And the team was so well equipped, so well planned that you have to see it to believe it.

THE VISHAL-NESS: His thinking is so unique. The way he mounts a scene is so different from the way all of us think. To show the intimacy between two friends, he constructs a fight scene between the two. I haven’t come across such character sketching before. Also, his visual grandeur is very interesting. The way he sees the film in his head before actually making it is so big.

THE REACTION: My friends have watched Kaminey within the first weekend itself. They have all loved my performance. Also, strangers have called me to tell how much they have liked me in the film. I have, in fact, heard that the public has been clapping at some of the scenes. That’s really healthy. If all this leads to more interesting offers from Mumbai, I wouldn’t mind. But I am very happy doing work here in Bengal.