Devtanu has come a long way in the past two and a half years, ever since he quit corporate life to pursue his passion for acting. What started off as baby steps in the proscenium theatre, has now turned into his full-time profession with numerous big projects slowly filling up his to-do list. After a successful independent stint with futuristic fantasy film TikiLand earlier this year, he is now warming up for two commercial releases in December onwards, namely Kaushik and Churni Ganguly starrer Shubho Bijoya and Dr. Bakshi featuring the dapper actor Parambrata Chattopadhyay, opposite superstar Subhashree Ganguly. Devtanu gives us a sneak peek into his thoughts about the upcoming releases and his acting choices. Excerpts:
Tell us about your upcoming projects
I have two major back-to-back releases coming up namely Shubho Bijoya and Dr. Bakshi in the month of December. The first film was directed by Rohan Sen and features the legendary Kaushik Ganguly and Churni Ganguly in major roles. The film will also see Bonny Sengupta and Koushani Mukherjee stepping into some critical characters, apart from me. The second film helmed by Saptaswa Basu will see me breathe life into an extended cameo, and features Parambrata Chattopadhyay and Subhashree Ganguly in the lead roles. It has been a pleasure to be involved in both of these projects additionally because I love being a part of the process of filmmaking, rather than just acting and leaving with a paycheck. Despite being so new to the industry, I consider myself lucky enough to have gotten the opportunity to understand and exchange thoughts about certain aspects of these films.
We have seen you acting in films and web. Have you considered taking up television projects?
At this moment I wish to explore films and web series only because I don’t feel I am suited enough for television. Television has an entirely different structure both in terms of acting and target audience that requires a separately modified set of skills. It is not about the platform, but the type of content I associate myself with so if there are opportunities in my way in the near future where a particular television content appeals to me, I will be more than happy to take it up. Currently, I find YouTube more suitable as an open platform to reach out to a larger audience.
Simultaneously, I also strongly believe in taking up a minimal number of projects that are strong in their content rather than doing numerous films in a year but to no use.
How are you choosing roles at this juncture of your career?
I think every actor comes with their individual set of ethics. I do not hold any preconceived apprehension about any sort of a role since I love experimenting with a versatile range, however, I do feel concerned about the content quality I associate myself with. If the vision of a character matches mine, I will make sure to put my best foot forward for that. I wish to represent Bengali movies on an international scale someday. I believe the sky's the limit, and choices depend on opportunities as they come our way. Similarly, I wouldn’t pick a particular star that I would love to work with because I strongly believe there’s a lot to learn from each of them.
Off the reels, what sort of films do you enjoy watching the most?
Watching at least one film or web series per day is a part of my work as an actor as it widens my perspective and vision. I explore every sort of genre. However, my comfort pick happens to be simple masala films because I have grown up watching them. I have also trained myself as an actor in a certain way that makes me more suited for masala films. From the audience's perspective, I want people to enjoy and immerse themselves in an alternative journey when they step into a cinema hall.