On a rainy Saturday, the makers dropped the teaser of an upcoming Bengali web show, Parineeta, starring Gaurav Chakrabarty and Debchandrima Singha Roy, and directed by Aditi Roy. Based on a novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, the show will premiere on August 15 on Hoichoi. This is the second project from their 'Best of Bengal' series. We had a quick chat with Roy, whose works - Bodhon, Lojja, Noshtoneer have won hearts of the audiences time and again, more so because of how relatable they are, and how sensitively she handles her subjects. Excerpts:
Whydid you choose Parineeta, the text?
Unlike most, I started reading Sarat Chandra's texts a little later, when I was in class 8-9. Parineeta is a text very close to my heart and I never knew back then that I would be recreating it on screen or something. Parineeta has been made into films, one released in 1969, that saw Soumitra Chatterjee (as Sekhar) and Mousumi Chatterjee (as Lalita), and much later in 2005, that saw Saif Ali Khan and Vidya Balan playing thee two lead characters. I have watched both but even then it didn't strike me that I will make a show or film out of this.
So, when Shrikant Mohta and I had a discussion as to which classic Bengali text can be worked upon and never grows old, I felt that Parineeta is such a text. And because this is such a beautiful love story, audiences won't get bored, even if it is created and re-created n number of times.
Also, period drama is one of my favourite subjects to watch, and I have also wanted to explore such a subject.
Is this is your debut period drama?
As a director, yes. I have worked as the creative director in many such period dramas on television.
We have seen you directing social dramas, was directing a period drama very difficult?
We have created this piece with love of love and care. Sarbari Ghosal has written the script and Indraadip Dasgupta has done the music. keeping the novel as the base of the show, the script has a different timeline. While the text is situated in around 1914-15, the show goes a decade back, having the Partition of Bengal as its premise. The backdrop has been changed and shows a time period of 1905-1908, and have created a lot of things that were not there in the original text.
Why did you choose Gaurav and Debchandrima as Sekhar and Lalita?
I could not imagine anyone else as Sekhar and Lalita, and I am thankful to the makers that I had my whole independence in choosing the actors. Gaurav and Debchandrima had been my options from the very first day.