Ratul Ganguly ?sets up? Sohini Sanyal, Monali Thakur and Bhaswar Chatterjee

Trust lensman P.B. Chaki to do that. ?We?ll be shifting to a CD library nearby,? he said sotto voce, ?and you?ll get some hatke shots.? The blessed place was so tight that there was barely any space to set up the camera and lights, and director Ratul Ganguly, the crew, the artistes and we had to keep hataaoing one another; that?s Chaki?s idea of hatke, we guess. The softspoken Ratul is evidently in the Rituparno Ghosh school of filmmaking. Or, maybe, it was because of Monali Indubala Thakur who is a wonderful singer but still wet behind the ears as an actress. Ratul was enacting the scene right down to intonation and facial muscle movement ? and to her credit, Monali was pretty receptive. Protham Prem, for Shudu Tomari Jonye, was all about the tall and affable Bhaswar Chatterjee meeting 6in.-heeled Monali in a CD library after ages and the co-salesgirl, smartly turned out Sohini Sanyal, playing Cupid.

Scheduled telecast: ETV Bangla; January 30; 5:05pm

Anil Grover