Tota Roy Choudhury on Keu Bole Biplobi Keu Bole Dakat, his first collaboration with Jeet, and more
Tota Roy Choudhury shared with us that there were many factors led him to say yes to Keu Bole Biplobi Keu Bole Dakat, in which he plays police officer Durga Prasad Roy. “It takes me back to my roots,” he said, “and if it is a film about a Bengali revolutionary, I would personally enjoy working on it a lot.” He was also excited to collaborate with superstar Jeet and filmmaker Pathikrrit Basu for the first time. Excerpts:
After so many years in the industry, this is your first project with Jeet. How has the experience been?
I have known Jeet for a very long time. After his debut, Haranath Chakraborty introduced us. We’ve seen him evolve from Jeetu to Jeet, and now into the superstar he is today, and it has always been a cordial relationship. But I discovered another version of this person when I went to work with him. He is so warm, and homely, so fun to have on the sets—the persona we usually find him in, on or off the screen; he is so very different as a co-actor. The overall team and work experience were really good; we do not usually get these.
You and Jeet are such good friends off screen. How easy was it to switch gears once the camera started rolling?
You know, experience counts. Also, neither of us believes in carrying forward our onscreen characters home. We know how to switch on and off. My rule is I will absolutely be the character when the camera is rolling, but the moment the director says ‘Cut’, I am Tota again.
Many actors become the characters they are playing, and often go through a difficult time to come out of it…
See, all of us have one goal: the end product. But there may be many ways. What I think is that, whatever the way might be, I should be able to deliver what the director is expecting from me. For that, I will have to see what my infrastructure, budget, and time allow me. My industry doesn’t allow me a long prep time; I have to shoot three to four scenes every day, and honestly, the industry doesn’t allow me to have the privilege of becoming and staying a character!
And to be honest, I do not believe in method acting. I have checked and read to find out how many actors/technicians have faced psychological issues and had to take professional help because they couldn’t let go of the character that they played; some eventually took some extreme steps too, and the world already knows about them. So, why go that way, when we can act even without allowing darkness to get over us?
How was working with Kriti Sanon in Tere Ishq Mein?
Oh, wonderful. She is a big star, yet has no haughtiness at all. Very sweet, dedicated, and easy to work with. Even if we rehearsed quite a few times or gave multiple shots for a scene, she was happily present. In fact, for her scenes, where her face wasn’t even shown, she was there throughout, and never used any body double.
The film releases on Friday, August 14.
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