Dev is not collaborating with filmmaker Srijit Mukherji for a biopic on Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah, the Bengali actor-turned-producer has clarified on Twitter. He was responding to a question during an #AskDev session on the microblogging platform.
One of the questions was from Birsa Dasgupta, who is directing Dev’s production Byomkesh o Durgo Rohoshyo. “How does it feel to be Byomkesh Bakshi? And when do we see you in and as Siraj?” asked Birsa.
“Byomkesh is one of the toughest characters I have ever played.. Regarding Siraj no idea,” wrote Dev.
A user cited a recent interview by Srijit where the director talked about his plans to work with Dev on two upcoming projects, one of which is a biopic on Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah, the last independent nawab of Bengal who lost the Battle of Plassey to the British. The Zulfiqar director had said that he had a round of talks with Dev about the project.
However, in the session, Dev said, “it is not entirely true”. When another user asked him whether he was doing the biopic, he wrote, “I am not doing this. I don’t know about the rest.” He also said he has no upcoming projects with Srijit.
Dev and Srijit reportedly had a fallout over the adaptation of Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay’s Durgo Rahasya. Srijit wanted to cast Anirban Bhattacharya as the iconic sleuth but the producer, Shadow Films, wanted Dev to headline the film. Srijit was replaced by Birsa as the director, and Srijit went on to collaborate with OTT platform Hoichoi to work on a web series on the same story.
When asked what would be the USP of his version of Byomkesh, Dev said, “This Byomkesh will b GLOBAL. Save this tweet.” However, there are no plans as of now to release Byomkesh O Durgo Rohoshyo pan-India, he added.
The Kishmish actor also busted a rumour regarding his possible collaboration with Soham Chakraborty for a film. “Nope, FAKE,” was Dev’s response.
Dev also opened up about handling negative criticism. “That’s normal… that means you are on a right track and most importantly you are successful,” the Kacher Manush actor tweeted, adding that the success of Projapoti made him “more responsible” and “a bit nervous” for his next films. Dev also had a diplomatic reply when asked who is the king of Tollywood — Jeet or him. “The audience,” was his short answer.
As for his upcoming projects, Dev revealed that he has a lot of plans in place for the promotion of Bagha Jatin, slated to hit the theatres during Durga Puja. He also announced that a teaser of Ram Kamal Mukherjee-directed Binodiini Ekti Natir Upakhyan, which he is producing and which stars Rukmini Maitra as Binodini, will be released during Durga Puja.
