Director Pavel has started the shoot of his new film Paran Jaha Chay, starring Indraneil Sengupta, Paran Bandyopadhyay, Anirban Chakrabarti, Anindya Sengupta, Roshni Bhattacharya, Saurav Das and Arunima Ghosh. A t2 chat with Pavel...

What is the genesis of Paran Jaha Chay?

Maut tu ek kavita hai, mujhse ek kavita ka wada hai milegi mujhko. This is the line from Anand. And every time I watch Anand this kavita gives me wisdom and I realise in this poetically unjust world at least we can make poetry out of death. I wrote this story in 2018 primarily in Hindi, and then in Bangla. It was titled Mait Tu Ek Kavita Hai in Hindi and Shhraddha Celebration in Bangla. This script has seen many deaths of my near and dear ones in the pandemic. This script portrays how life can be celebrated even after death and how immortality is achieved after leaving the mortal body.

Why this title?

My seniors in the industry advised me that though Bengalis perform the rituals of shraddha, they might not like the name of a film that starts with one. Paran Bandyopadhyay is the protagonist of the film and his character’s name is Paran in the film. This film (produced by Camellia Productions) talks about fulfilling the heart’s desires. Hence, Paran Jaha Chay (As You Wish). From another point of view, Paran Jaha Chay can be read in Bengali as Porano Jaha Chay, which beautifully resonates with Tagore’s Amaro porano jaha chay.

Tell us about the storyline...

How Porag rediscovers his father’s love after his father’s death and how his sense of duty takes rebirth through a series of marvellous, glorious and hilarious posthumous events. From event manager to local police, everyone is trying to fulfill Paran’s wishes.

Why did you feel the need to tell this story now?

The Bengali audience is very kind towards old age-related issues, which can be witnessed in the huge box-office collections of films such as Belaseshe and Projapati. Somehow senior citizens enjoy watching their unfulfilled dreams through cinema... this will in turn fulfill my dream too. The most neglected batch of people (senior citizens) accidentally is the most celebrated ones in cinema halls. There was an urge from my side to make an out-and-out comedy drama. So here it is.