In a casting coup of sorts, Mithun Chakraborty, Dev and Mamata Shankar have come together for the film Projapoti, to be directed by Avijit Sen. While Mithun and Mamata had starred in Mrinal Sen’s Mrigaya, Dev and Mithun had set the screen on fire with the film Herogiri and then Dance Dance Junior Season 2. “Everyone is so happy about Projapoti. We had thought of Mithunda and Mamata Shankar from Day One and it feels fantastic that they are a part of the film. Mithunda is an emotion for me... he is so special. We share a superb bond in real life and that will get reflected on screen,” says Dev. “I feel honoured to have three super actors, Mithun, Dev and Mamata Shankar, in my film. I am also proud to bring back Mithunda and Mamodi after a long wait of 46 years since Mrigaya,” says producer Atanu Raychaudhuri.
Projapoti, produced by Bengal Talkies and Dev Entertainment Ventures, is a father-son story, and the respect and affection that both Mithun and Dev have for each other will get reflected in the film, feels Avijit who had directed the blockbuster Tonic earlier. Projapoti is a family film, a family drama.
Recently, Dev, Avijit and Atanu flew to Mumbai to meet Mithun. “Mithunda cooked for all of us specially, it was a such a moving gesture,” smiles Dev.
“I was very thrilled and excited. I couldn’t sleep the previous night, thinking of how he would react to the story. Mithunda is my idol... he was my biggest inspiration to get into filmmaking. His name was first on the list of heroes I looked up to in my growing up years. Even on the flight, I was constantly thinking of what is going to happen once I reached his place. I had worked with Mithunda before for television, but it was the first time I was meeting him for a film and narrating him my story. I was quite nervous,” says Avijit, who had worked with Rajkumar Hirani as an assistant in Lage Raho Munna Bhai.
Years ago, while working on that film, one of the members from the directorial team had pointed out Mithun’s house to Avijit in Madh Island. “We had gone past the house and it stuck to my mind. The memory of that cottage, the road leading to it, the colour of the house. That was in 2007. Now, after 15 years, I visited that place and entered the house and it felt surreal. Those memories came rushing back. He came down to greet us and took us inside and showed us around,” smiles Avijit, who was also touched by another gesture of Mithun. “Mithunda loves to cook and he whipped up a lavish spread for us. There was luchi, aloor dom, chicken, dal, begun bhaaja and rice. The food was awesome... it was a fantastic lunch. He is such a gracious host.”
Mithun,
Interestingly, Avijit was born in 1976, the year that Mrinal Sen’s Mrigaya came out, for which Mithun got the National Award. “Mithunda and Mamata Shankar are coming together after 46 years and I am directing them. It is an amazing feeling. I am extremely thankful to Dev and Atanuda. When I was editing Tonic, they had come down to the studio and surprised me with the news that Mithunda is on board for the film. The credit for the casting goes to Atanuda. All three were extremely important for the film. Mithunda and Dev have a great chemistry. Mithunda was happy when he got to know Mamata Shankar will be there... he was smiling, and he was silent for a few seconds... and the feeling was the same when we told Mamata Shankar about the cast. She was happy,” says Avijit.
Mamata Shankar
Dev is a team man who leads from the front. For Tonic, they were shooting a sequence in the highest railway station in India, Ghum, where there were a lot of tourists, and the scene demanded the toy train to arrive, and Dev would click a picture of Paran Bandyopadhyay and Shakuntala Barua with the train. Suddenly, the whole place got covered in fog. “We had only two cameras and I was shooting the sequence in one of them in a hurry so that I could move to the next scene immediately, which was a song sequence. I suddenly noticed that one of the cameras were missing. I told Paranda and Shakuntaladi to wait as I would get the next scene ready when all of a sudden, I heard Dev calling me. To my surprise he had already set up the camera to take a wonderful shot, where he, Paranda and Shakuntaladi would all be looking through binoculars to see the mountains. He was so quick and always had in mind that we had to finish before the fog returns. I understood what a team man he is and my task became much easier thereafter. Dev is so supportive and helpful. He makes one feel comfortable. He is a superb human being,” says Avijit.
