Neha and Lillete Dubey in Bow Barracks Forever (above) and Manisha Koirala with Prosenjit on the sets of Khela (right)

He?s kept a very close watch on the Bengali film industry all this while and now, Pritish Nandy is part of the Tolly game with Khela. The Rituparno Ghosh film starring Prosenjit, Manisha Koirala and Raima Sen will be the first Bengali venture to be produced by Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC) and a stepping stone for the Mumbai-based company.

?We were doing Saheb, Biwi Aur Ghulam with Rituparno Ghosh and we thought why not start the association with his current work that is Khela,? Nandy tells Metro from Mumbai. ?So, we are now producing Khela which was previously being made by Prosenjit?s company.?

PNC has also taken over the distribution rights of Anjan Dutt?s English film Bow Barracks Forever that has been lying in the cans for quite some time now. ?We plan to release the film across the country at the multiplexes very much like what we did with Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi,? reveals Nandy. Not only that, he may come on board for Dutt?s latest film The Bong Connection, which is currently being produced by Joy B. Ganguly?s Moxie Entertainment Pvt Ltd.

So, why this sudden surge towards the east? ?That is where my roots are,? comes the reply from Nandy. ?Calcutta is where I belong to. It?s not that I am suddenly trying to get into the industry. I have always thought of the Bengali film industry. We at PNC make the kind of films which come out from Bengal ? entertaining, yet a winner of huge number of awards at festivals across the world.?

But why pick veterans like Anjan Dutt and Rituparno Ghosh when PNC has regularly backed new Bollywood directors like Suparn Verma and Kabir Shivanand? ?We are just trying to walk into a new industry and so as a starter Rituparno and Anjan are good choices,? explains Nandy. ?Yes, we have a special talent of identifying new film-makers and we plan to do the same in Bengal.?

Does PNC coming into Bengali cinema mean more Bollywood stars camping in Tollywood? ?Yes, our films should have big stars in the cast,? confirms Nandy. ?That?s something which will be easy for us to achieve. In fact, we would put all our resources into use to get the best possible cast and crew for the Bengali films.?

Getting into Bengali films would, however, not slow down PNC?s involvement with Hindi movies. ?We plan to make four to five Hindi films every year and three to four Bengali films in that period... We are very modest in our ambitions.?

Of the Hindi films that PNC has already put its money into include Vikram Bhatt?s Ankahee, which is said to be an autobiographical study starring Aftab Shivdasani, Amisha Patel and Esha Deol. Bhatt will also make Mafia for PNC, which is another take at the world of gangsters. Pyaar Ke Side Effects is being directed by newcomer Saket Choudhary, starring Mallika Sherawat and Rahul Bose.

Meghna Gulzar?s Honeymoon has an ensemble cast led by Fardeen Khan and Esha Deol. There are two other PNC projects starring Akshay Kumar and Sunny Deol.

Nandy, of course, is banking a lot on Rituparno?s Saheb, Biwi Aur Ghulam which will be in Hindi and will star some of the biggest names in Bollywood. ?The cast of a big movie like this is as final as it can be,? says Nandy. ?It keeps changing with stars falling sick or getting hurt or getting involved in accidents or shaving their heads off. Right now, the cast includes Salman Khan, John Abraham, Priyanka Chopra and another lady. We are in talks with Vidya Balan among others for a character.?

Once that is taken care of, Nandy will back a Hindi film to be directed by Anjan Dutt. ?We have been talking about it for quite some time now. It will be shot in Darjeeling at a certain time of the year. We will go ahead with it once the cast is finalised. We are trying to get Sushmita Sen for the main role.?

It is Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi?s success that has got Nandy going for a no-holds-barred approach towards making ?pure? cinema. ?It is truly inspiring that a film like Hazaaron? could reach levels not thought of. We are sure going to encourage more of such cinema, both in Hindi and Bengali.?