Arindam Sil is in a happy space. His film Byomkesh Hotyamancha is a superhit and the film notched up Rs 1 crore in the first five days in West Bengal. The Telegraph chat with Arindam Sil.

Congratulations Arindamda. Byomkesh Hotyamancha is a success. What are your thoughts right now?

From Day One, we had more than 40 back-to-back houseful shows running across Calcutta. It was released pan-India, and then it was released in five cities in UAE, in California and New York, Australia, Canada. In the US, it is in its third week. It is really heartening. I hope this culture of releasing films pan-India and abroad grows. This is a start. This is what we have been dreaming of all this while. If we continue to do this, perhaps one day we would also be doing, in terms of distribution, as well as South Indian cinema. There has been critical acclaim and box office success for this film. This has been a different kind of Byomkesh, a chamber drama. The treatment is different here. Overall, it has been a satisfying experience. The film, actors and technicians are being praised highly. There are innumerable requests that I keep doing Byomkesh. The demand is fantastic.

How is it doing in the US?

Star Synergy Entertainment and SpaceTime Cinemas have released Byomkesh Hotyamancha in several cities across the USA simultaneously. Aniruddha Dasgupta, the CEO of SpaceTime Cinema, has said that the film opened to great reviews. The advance booking for Byomkesh Hotyamancha was so high that what started with three shows in the weekend went upto 13 shows over a week. In many cases theatres were swapping movies like Lal Singh Chaddha, Raksha Bandhan and others for Byomkesh Hotyamancha. This is a great success story for Bengali movies.

In the film, you have provided the audience with a lot of information... from the beginning itself. Byomkesh gets to know about them much later. Why this approach?

It was intentional. We wanted to keep the audience in the driver’s seat... so that they can participate. But still there is a shroud of mystery over some of the characters. Certain things establish a character. We are talking about ethics versus principles in the film. And that’s how the clashes take place. The film shows how Byomkesh is finding things out... it shows his process of detection. Byomkesh has to find out for himself. We kept a secret of the antagonist till the end. And that has worked.

Arindam Sil

The final moment of the play and the final moment of the film... the way you have framed the characters... have a striking similarity. We see Paoli Dam and Arna on stage and Abir and Sohini together in the film. Was the emphasis intentional?

Yes. It was by design. Above all, I have tried to say that it is only love that triumphs over everything... only love can repair sorrow and bruises. Byomkesh is a national figure. His drawing room has artifacts, paintings and French decor. We wanted to keep the international appeal in his home. We see the Ajanta fresco in the last scene and the moment gets a whole new dimension, the scene elevates. Abir, Sohini, Paoli... they really worked hard on the nuances.

When are you making your next Byomkesh film?

I’ll make another Byomkesh film, only if I get Durgo Rahashya. Otherwise this is my last Byomkesh film. If I do not get Durgo Rahashya, this will be my last Byomkesh film.

Are you serious? Your Byomkesh films are so successful.

I don’t want to tread in comfortable ground always. Let others do Byomkesh. I mean it. A director has to take a call.

What about Shabor?

Unless I get an incredible story, I won’t do it. I have done four films in each of the franchise and that is good enough.

Will you supervise other Byomkesh films?

That I can do, I can be the showrunner. I don’t want to get cosy and comfortable doing the same thing.

Box-office success means so much to the film-maker and you have always delivered superhits with your Byomkesh films. And yet you are walking away from a successful franchise?

We will make other films. Ten years down the line, people can question my choices also. I don’t want to make sure-shot films throughout.

What about Mitin Mashi?

We are in discussion... of making Mitin Mashi 2. We plan to shoot it in Kerala, in November-December. I have already spoken to Koel (Mallick). With OTT platforms making their presence felt, I feel one has to make grand cinema for the screen... it has to be a visual spectacle.

With this Byomkesh film, I have proved how grand a chamber drama can be. Audience members have told me that they found the treatment to be very Poirot-esque.

Close to the end, Byomkesh tells the character played by Anusha Viswanathan that one must not take the easy way out in art.

That’s my observation too on contemporary artistes. Whatever I have achieved in life, has come the hard way. I’m completing 35 years in the industry. I say this from experience. The shortest route is not the right path.

Do you see that happening around you?

Yes. If you study Renaissance, that was the time when society, culture, eduction, the principles of life, all were guided by intellectuals. They showed society the way to the future. Compromises are everywhere now. I wanted to raise these moral and ethical questions through the film. That’s why Byomkesh says it.

Did you intentionally make Byomkesh sensitive and compassionate in this film?

It’s because I am coming to the end of my storytelling of Byomkesh. Also, people idolise Byomkesh... he is an ideal Bangali. He has the principles, he is an intellectual, he is smart and he has the love of his life... it was important to show Byomkesh as a compassionate person. Byomkesh and Satyabati have beautiful moments together in the film.