After the immense love Dev and Mithun Chakraborty got in Projapoti, director Avijit Senn is all set to bring back the onscreen father-son duo this festive season in Projapoti 2. We engage in a hearty chat with Senn regarding the narrative, how his television experience fuels his cinema, why he prefers not to return to theatres, his takeaways of assisting Rajkumar Hirani and what family dynamics mean to him.
Excerpts:
Where did you get the inspiration for Projapoti 2?
Projapoti and Projapoti 2 are two completely different stories. Why the same name;because the audiences have loved and connected with the first part. Another reason is, when I used to assist Rajkumar Hirani, I saw that he had kept the Munna Bhai series with the same characters – Munna and Circuit- but changed the storyline every time. So, when Dev, Atanu Roychowdhury and I were discussing, we wanted to reprise the roles of Mithun Chakraborty as Gaur Chakraborty and Dev as Joy Chakraborty in this instalment as well.
Can we expect a series franchise?
We haven’t thought about it. If the audience likes the story, then only we move forward to the next one.
What does family and changing family dynamics mean to you?
The word family is very important to me. I am a family man and very close to my parents, as are Atanu and Dev. Family dynamics do change at different times due to different reasons. But the responsibility of keeping a balance lie within the family members. We have to be mature enough and think deeply to keep relationships balanced. I go back to my roots. If I off-root myself, then that can be a concern. The same reflects in our stories, narratives, characters and situations. Working in television has also helped. When we work on reality shows, we meet the common people and interact with them. That helps us to learn a lot about people, and we try to stitch these into our characters and stories, on screen.
Dev has been a constant collaborator for all your films…
It’s not just Dev, its Atanu da as well. People have named us as Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwar in jest. We respect each other and have become an extended family, not limited to just film talks. Around 2009-10, I first went to Dev with a story, and he rejected it. Almost a year later, I went again with another story, which was rejected as well. When we were conceiving Tonic, honestly, I was a little scared since he had rejected me twice already. But when he heard the story, he immediately agreed, and the journey started from there.
What are your biggest takeaways from the days of assisting Rajkumar Hirani?
Rajkumar Hirani’s specialisation is in editing. It’s the same for me, and that is why he selected me. I have learnt how to stitch scenes from him. For instance, why am I going from one scene to the other, or what is the logic behind the sequences etc. Moreover, every character has to have a goal and an arc of completion. Say, a supporting character like Circuit, in Munna Bhai, is shown to be married and having a child – Short Circuit- at the end.
How different are the two reality television and cinema?
Even though they are very different, storytelling binds them both. I am making the film for the audience who watches television. When real people come in for a reality television show, and we get to directly interact with them, I learn a lot. Live reactions and feedback also mean a lot, since I used to do theatre as well.
Will we get to see you back on the theatre stage?
Theatre needs a lot of time. After 2004, I have watched theatres, I still do, but haven’t taken to the stage. My daughter does theatre with Nandikar. I love the medium. Many characters in my projects are played by theatre artistes. Anirban (Bhattacharya) is such a fabulous actor. He’s like the Shah Rukh Khan of the stage. He played a role in Apur Sansar. Debshankar Halder hosted Happy Parents Day. Sohini Sengupta was in Pradhan. Paran Bandyopadhyay was in Tonic. The advantage of having them around is that they give anecdotes and help us learn. Although I want to see theatre, I don’t want to return to the stage, I want to continue doing films and television.
Projapoti 2 is running in theatres near you
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