Friendship has no definition and it’s not always that a friend in need is a friend indeed. Such realisations cropped up during an hour-long chat with actors Rahul Banerjee, Ritwick Chakraborty and Indrajit Chakraborty, who are playing friends in Sudeshna Roy and Abhijit Guha’s movie Samsara, which releases today, ahead of the Friendship Day on August 4. Friendship as a theme has always been celebrated on Bengali celluloid, be it the classics like Aranyer Din Ratri, Char Murti and Goopi Gayen Bagha Bayen or the latest ones including Aami Ar Amar Girlfriends or Reunion. Samsara too is about three school friends who meet after two decades and how they impact each other’s lives forever. Here are excerpts from the chat on friendship, philosophy and more:
What made you say yes to Samsara?
Rahul Banerjee: I personally have been always attracted to stories that centre or develop around the dynamics of friendship since that’s very complicated at times and has several layers. In this particular movie, the friends cross each other’s paths after much water has flown under the bridge and all of them have skeletons in the cupboard.
Indrajit Chakraborty: It’s a friendship story with a thriller element. As the plot advances, many other characters emerge, all connected to each other.
Ritwick Chakraborty: It’s a thriller in the garb of a friendship tale. It separate stories about the struggle, success and also a kind of travelogue, a journey of three friends and has a very unusual plot that can’t be restricted to any particular genre.
Are you in touch with your friends?
RB: The good side of technology is that we have been able to reunite with all our friends. I have a WhatsApp group and we are in constant touch with each other.
IC: Yeah, in fact, social media has done immense good in letting friends scattered all across the globe to be in touch with each other without much effort. Most of my friends are not in Kolkata and we stay in touch regularly.
RC: I have friends but if you mean close friends, then they are always a handful.
So, did the three of you build any rapport while shooting for Samsara?
IC: Yes, in fact, Rahul and Ritwick were friends already...
RB: Yes, we may not be in touch daily, but we always pick up the thread from where we left.
So, was there any uneasiness at all when you replaced Ritwik as Ajit in Byomkesh Gotro?
RB: Why should there be? In fact, it was while we were shooting for Rajlakshmi Srikanto that I suggested him to stop repeating himself as Ajit and let me do it (smiles).
Indrajit, were you ever conscious of yourself as an actor in the presence of talents like Rahul and Ritwick?
IC: I never took it as a challenge since we were all playing our parts.
RB: A good actor never cares about how big his dialogue is or whether he has stolen the scene. It’s like a game of football where one passes the ball to each other to reach the goal.
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What are the other films you are working on?
RB: I am doing Rajlaksmi Srikanto and also a series for Zee5 — Bhalobashar Shohor.
IC: I will be producing more films in the future and hence you will see less of me on screen. We will be announcing our next project soon after Samsara.
RC: I will be seen in Shantilal O Projapoti, Rajlakshmi Srikanto, Parineeta, Mayar Jonjal, Buro Sadhu, Bini Sutoy and Borun Babur Bondhu.
What defines friendship for you?
RB: Friendship has no definition.
IC: There’s a saying that a friend in need is a friend indeed but for me, friendship has no parameters.
RC: Definitions are important when you write a theory and friendship is a way of life and it’s belittled when you try to restrict it to any particular definition.
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FASHION and FOOD CHOICES
RB: I am very casual in style and I love my kurtas from Benares. I avoid white shoes at all cost. I eat everything and my comfort food is rice.
RC: I am comfortable in anything or should I say white pants are a cause of discomfiture for me. I love to eat everything and do not follow any particular diet at all.
IC: I love anything in blue and white and I am most comfortable in three-quarter pants, T-shirts and flip flops. I am into a lot of fitness and outdoor sports like lawn tennis and cricket. I am a conscious eater and my diet comprises quinoa, oats, dalia and eggs. But I am a fish person and love eating fried Mourola fish with daal and rice.
@sharmidas