On seeing Sujoy Ghosh’s stunning Kolkata suspense-drama Kahaani your attention is instantly caught by a quietly accomplished Bengali actor Parambrata Chatterjee who plays Vidya Balan’s hero within the film.
Parambrata, Param to friends, it may well now be revealed, plays Vidya’s distressed spouse-searching character’s cop-saviour who breaks protocol, rules and conventions to get Vidya to her goal and somewhere down the road becomes subtly drawn to her.
Parambrata conveys his growing affection for his leading lady with a silent eloquence that probably the most Bollywood superstars would find hard to duplicate.
So yes, Parambrata is the hero of Kahaani.
“Wrong! Kahaani already has two heroes, Vidya and Kolkata. I’m the film’s heroine, ” he quips mischievously from Shanti Niketan where he’s shooting his new Bengali film as mobs threaten to disrupt the shooting.
“Bad idea to shoot in Shanti Niketan on Holi. I ATTEMPTED to dissuade the director. But he wouldn’t listen. Did Sujoy Ghosh listen when he was warned it was suicidal to shoot at the streets of Kolkata with Vidya?
Directors listen only to the voice in their creativity. Inquire from me. I’ve directed a movie Jiyo Kaka and am prepared to direct another film which might probably star the Bengali superstar Prosenjeet, ” that soft clipped voice informs.
Last year’s Bangla superhit Baise Shrabon which starred Prosenjeet and Parambrata became a blockbuster and turned the latter right into a Kolkata superstar. Now Kahaani, hopes Parambrata, would make him a well-recognized figure in Bollywood, though he admits he’s happy being a celebrity in Bengal and doesn’t crave for acceptance in Bollywood.
How the role in Kahaani happened makes an enchanting story, better told by Parambrata, “I was abroad in Amsterdam with my girlfriend once I received a choice from Mumbai. Before he could introduce himself as Sujoy Ghosh he showered the choicest expletives on me asking me to go back to India to start out shooting for his film.
He had seen my work in Anjan Datta’s Bong Connection and felt I USED TO BE right for the role. From Amsterdam I USED TO BE alleged to go along with my girl to Paris and Rome.
Paris, I couldn’t wriggle out of. (She’d have killed me after which left me). But Rome, I cancelled and returned to India for Kahaani. That’s my kahaani, ” Says the young actor, admitting he needed to work flat out on his Hindi, but not so hard on establishing a rapport with Vidya with with whom the young Bengali actor shares almost each frame in Kahaani.
Vidya is a large star but absolutely hassle-free. She takes her work dead seriously. But is a bundle of fun off camera. I DISCOVERED her attitude to be a refreshing change from one of the most temperamental Bengali actresses I’ve worked with.
Some of them don't have any reason to thrown tantrums. But they do. Vidya is large enough a celebrity to throw her weight around. But she doesn’t. ”
Parambrata shares that while directing Jiyo Kaka actress Rituparna Sengupta would come hours late at the sets. “I finally discovered a formula to overcome her unpunctuality. I’d tell her to report at the sets much before she was actually required. ”
Parambrata is in a long-distance relationship with a Dutch girl. “Her name is Ike Schouten. And we’ve been seeing one another for 2 years. She spends some months of the year with me in Kolkata.
And I fly down as frequently as possible. Ike is simply too kicked aboit Kahaani, not just because I’m in it but as it was shot in Kolkata. She will show all of the places that he loves in Kolkata to her friends within the Netherlands. ”
