Actor Saswata Chatterjee and director Raj Chakraborty bring back the Abar Proloy franchise
After traversing through the majestic terrains of Sunderbans revealing the kingpins behind a woman trafficking racket, Animesh Dutta, essayed by Saswata Chatterjee, is back. This time around, he tracks down the masterminds behind a jewellery robbery case in Kolkata. Directed by Raj Chakraborty, Abar Proloy 2 is the second season of the successful franchise which is anticipated to keep the audience hooked to this Bangla thriller. As the series starts streaming today, we catch up with Saswata and Raj to know more about the return of the much-liked inspector.
Excerpts:
What excites you the most about returning as Animesh Dutta?
Saswata: The bad guy inside Animesh Dutta which maybe not all the time I am able to bring in front of the screens. He [ Dutta] can through fights and foul words express the bad guy in him, which I probably cannot do it myself. Whatever frustration comes to my mind, I take them out through Dutta.
Have there been spontaneous changes on set during a scene?
Saswata: Yes. Dialogues were changed quite a lot.
Raj: When we take a script to the floor, we notice that the actors improvise on it based on their skills. Through rehearsals if someone brings out the best in the character which was not previously written, they do that. We don’t follow the script throughout. It may be that Animesh Dutta had been written in a different way but when the shoot concludes, the approach improvises. This is true for all characters, and this liberty is present.
Is there a scope of character evolution in a franchise where the character sketch is already established?
Saswata: Changing a character isn’t possible. But in this series, one can see how slightly different the man was before joining the force. Also, at home, one can feel how roles are reversed where his wife becomes Animesh Dutta, and he becomes the quieter self. He might need his wife’s permission to do certain things.
Raj: Even though Animesh Dutta comes across as a rowdy man, there is an emotional side to him. He has leadership and caring qualities in him too. Other characters too here are very important. They have their own background stories wrapped in emotion and crisis.
Is the pressure of fulfilling audience expectations higher in a successful franchise, than a stand-alone project?
Saswata: It’s like the struggle of getting into the industry and sustaining oneself. A lot of people think it might have been easy for me being Subhendu Chatterjee’s son but surviving in the industry matters. There have been many whose first movies were a hit but after a few more got lost in the crowd. Hence, the pressure of being able to maintain one’s position is always there. People have already formed an expectation now that actor has the pressure of not doing anything to disappoint them. It feels like I have to do my next work better than the previous one to prove that one isn’t lost.
Raj: Abar Proloy created records and thus on audience demand Abar Proloy 2 has been made. I won’t say there’s pressure but definitely there’s a responsibility to better it than the first series. Season 1 and Season 2 are different stories and yet where the similarity lies between the two, all these will be answered once one sees the series.
Do you think crime drama today is an over-saturated space?
Saswata: This depends a lot on the society. If we can make a hooking crime thriller drawing from what’s happening all over the world, then people will be happy. There was a time when people were at peace, and everyone used to make romantic movies. Then came a phase of restlessness and the entry of the angry young man in Bollywood. The youth started clinging on to him and took out their frustration through him. But today, keeping in mind whatever is happening the society, if we can keep at making crime drama, it will work.
Raj: Every time we open social media we get to see different instances. Sometimes, we think how we would have reacted had we been there. Abar Proloy 2 is all about the absence of the individual viewers, but the presence of the man who would take out your reactions and do what you would have probably done.
Abar Proloy 2 is streaming on Bangla ZEE 5
For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels.