It was a February morning last year when I was waiting to speak to Chanchal Chowdhury on the set of Srijit Mukherji’s Padatik. The set was at Mrinal Sen’s home in Beltala. Minutes later Chanchal walks into the room and you actually don’t recognise him, thanks to makeup artist Somnath Kundu. As Srijt prepares for the next scene, we sit down to talk about him turning into Mrinal Sen, why he feels he is living a dream and his experience of working with Srijit Mukherji.
What is the scene that you will shoot now?
Chanchal Chowdhury: It is a conversation between the father (Mrinal Sen) and son (Kunal Sen) where the latter criticises his father’s work. It’s what you would call a typical Baba-chhele adda.
Although Samrat (Chakrabarti) plays my son, he’s more or less my age, so it becomes important for me to remember the characterisation envisioned in the film. Some things come naturally as a result of all the inputs I’ve received along the way; the rest I have to imagine and figure out. I also take cues from my own life, from my bond with my son.
Does it feel like you are living a dream?
Chanchal Chowdhury: Yes, indeed. When I first saw my picture in Mrinal Sen’s look, it took me a while to figure out if it was me or him. It was a lovely feeling. What a wonderful job by makeup artist Somnath Kundu!
When I first came to work in Tollywood, it was unbelievable for me to get a chance to work on something like this. I hail from Bangladesh and therefore the differences in dialects are very pronounced. I had trouble speaking in Hindi. Even after I’m done with the work, I cannot fathom if the experience is real or surreal. I got an insight into Mrinal Sen’s personal life, his camaraderie with icons like Satyajit Ray as well as his commitment to his craft. I learnt about the father-son relationship, which one needs to be acutely aware of in this age where generation gaps are common.
How challenging was it to play Mrinal Sen?
Chanchal Chowdhury: Most of the input was given by Srijitda (Mukherji) in the form of visual aids like interviews, excerpts from Doordarshan which are not readily available on the internet. I filled in the empty spaces. I got Goutam Ghose’s inputs on Mrinal Sen when I met him at an event. He delineated Mrinal Sen’s fun-loving personality. In Delhi, I met Mrinal Sen’s nephew who also gave me vital information about his habits, lifestyle and even the smallest things like his gestures and postures. All this material, which I corroborated with various sources, went into my characterisation of Mrinal Sen.
How have Mrinal Sen’s films moved you?
Chanchal Chowdhury: While working on Padatik, I got to know a lot more about him. I believe I have imbibed his philosophy of life, which will always stay with me.
He has made films on people from the working class and those from the underprivileged, deprived sections of the society. He focused on the reality of people and their lives. I relate to Mrinal Sen’s vision of life, his beliefs. I feel the ideals that Mrinal Sen fought for are very inspiring.
How was it to work with Srijit Mukherji?
Chanchal Chowdhury: It was quite a learning experience to work with Srijit. From writing the screenplay to technical work, he has commendable skills. The entire credit goes to Srijit for turning me into Mrinal Sen from Chanchal Chowdhury. It is fun to work with Srijit as he is confident and keen about understanding cinema. I hope we get to work together again.
