Prosenjit Chatterjee on channelling a rock star’s battle with love, family and career in Abhhiman
Actor Prosenjit Chatterjee is no stranger to musical roles, having left indelible marks with films like Jaatishwar, Moner Manush, and Kishore Kumar Junior. Yet, his portrayal of Akash Chatterjee in Abhhiman, directed by Indraadip Dasgupta, sees him play a rock icon fighting a silent, agonising war against depression and cognitive decline. The role demanded an entirely different emotional palette. In this chat with Indulge, Prosenjit explains the delicate process of capturing both a rock star’s electric stage presence and his devastating inner vulnerability. Excerpts:
How did you approach playing Akash Chatterjee, a celebrated rock star grappling with depression and the onset of Alzheimer's disease?
Flimmakers don’t come to me if it’s a very straight character, and honestly speaking, after working in the industry for 40+ yearsnow, I always look forward to pursuing something new. I have played musicians before, in Moner Manush and Kishore Kumar Junior, and have also lip-synced in many, many films, because that’s what the trend was like in the 1990s and 2000s. To play Akash Chatterjee, I always wanted to blend the Bengali music rock stars, along with those who sang Jibonmukhi gaan like Anjan Dutt, Nachiketa, and Silajit, with the modern-day Rupam Islam. When I played Arun Chatterjee in Autograph, there too I kind of amalgamated how Uttam Kumar or my father, Biswajit Chatterjee, would play such a character, paired with a modern-day super star, say, like Shah Rukh Khan.
I have three shades in this film, and the challenge was not about playing his old age but the man himself. The challenge was portraying a man whose voice people once waited to hear and then becoming someone who no longer speaks or does not react. And even if he reacts, he is reacting in a different way.
If you remember my film Mayurakshi, Soumitra Chatterjee played my father with such a neurological condition. I will never be able to act like him, however, whatever I soaked in from that film, I recollected everything and put it into play for my character in Abhhiman. And honestly speaking, some 30+ years back, when I used to do 3-4 shifts a day, there was a time when, for about 1.5-2 years, I had shut myself completely for personal reasons. So at some point, I tried to get those emotions back, too.
As you mentioned about shutting yourself up, has stardom left you lonely anytime?
I think it’s not stardom. I think some people who have reached a position where others look up to them, and they can’t show their real feelings or emotions. But they, too, have their personal lives, made with the same flesh and blood as anyone else. Whatever may happen in their lives, the expectations never go down. To face hundreds and thousands of lenses every day, you need to have a cocoon around you…you have to speak to yourself and spend time with yourself. There is always a conflict between your inner self and the person the world sees. Only you can fight that battle.
What was it like working with first-time producers Jisshu U Sengupta and Saurav Das?
I think it is great news for the Bengali industry. In other industries, this practice of creative people, be it actors or directors turning producers, has been there for many years now. What I personally feel is that a producer isn’t just somebody who’s making money; he also has to understand cinema. Making a film is like giving birth to a child; the entire team invests their time, energy, and hard work into a project. And these two boys are just crazy when it comes to their passion and profession.
How different is it working with a major production house versus first-time producers?
It really doesn’t matter to me. If you see my entire journey, the top-most production houses we have right now in Bengal, all of them, had started their journey along with Prosenjit. Even though I was new at some point in time, and honestly speaking, if you see all my mainstream cinema lists, I have worked with several first-time producers and directors who have become very successful.
A producer has a big role to play. What I normally do is that if it is a newbie team, I try to guide and support them as much as possible, beyond our professional equations, because my first learning from cinema is that if you can save a producer to be in the industry, it’s good for all of u.
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