While a sequel to Kahaani is yet to score any formal shape, the film’s iconic assassin Bob Biswas has become bigger than the film. And director Sujoy Ghosh has no qualms in admitting it.
Says Sujoy, “Bob Biswas has probably exceeded the recognition of Kahaani. Poor Saswata has lost his identity. He's addressed as Bob wherever he goes. I had gone to peer his latest Bengali film Abar Bomkesh in Kolkata. In preference to address him by the name of his character people within the audience screamed ‘Bob’ once he came on. ”
Sujoy is somewhat worried and intrigued by the assassin’s popularity. “Bob’s character is on screen for barely 5-7 minutes. But audiences have adopted him.
I get suggestions on methods to take Bob’s character forward from youngsters on the web. There’s a Bob Fan Club in Kolkata that may be constantly churning out ideas. I BELIEVE people like his ordinariness.
Bob isn’t your suave gun-toting cool killer. He's an overweight job holder. We didn’t give Bob a family life. But he probably goes back to a family after killing.
He probably needs a second income to support his family. That’s why he does the killings. I don’t know. These are the main points from Bob Biswas’ life that must be fleshed out. And we’re engaged on it. ”
Though Sujoy clams up at the details of Bob Biswas’s life ahead on screen we all know for a indisputable fact that a television serial expanding Bob Biswas’s life as a working-class assassin is now being worked on.
Says Sujoy, “The idea is being worked on. However it isn’t easy. Bob must relocate himself from Kolkala to Mumbai . That uprooting will not be easy for him since he has lived in Kolkata all his life. That’s where his roots, family and career are. ”
Says Saswata, “The only problem with a television serial is, you never know where it will go. Suppose tomorrow they choose to make Bob into this pathos-laden victim of circumstances who goes home to his ailing mother after the killings, it'd be rather sad for the nature.
I’d like Bob to be taken further provided that the fabric justifies his renewal. ”
Saswata whose father Subhendu Chatterjee was a distinguished actor says he can shuttle between Kolkata and Mumbai if the need arises.
“I’ve my entire life in Kolkata. My 9-year daughter Hiya studies here. My wife Mohua is a teacher. I can’t wrench them out in their environment. But I WILL BE ABLE TO easily travel between Kolkata and Mumbai. ”
Incidentally Hiya whose friends now regularly badger Saswata for an autograph, has not seen Kahaani. “She has an excessively different image of her father. She’dbe shocked to peer me killing people. I’ll show it to her when she’s older.
In fact I'M yet to head and see Kahaani after its success in a public theatre . I’ve been too busy shooting for 3 Bengali films. ”
