After delivering the blockbusters, Tonic and Projapoti, superstar Dev, director Avijit Sen and producer Atanu Raychaudhuri have come together once again for the much-awaited film, Pradhan, which releases on December 22. Set in North Bengal, Pradhan has the hit Tonic pair of Dev and Paran Bandopadhyay joining hands once again. The film, also starring Soham, Koneenica Banerjee, Soumitrisha Kundu, Mamata Shankar, Ambarish Bhattacharya, Anirban Chakrabarti, and Sohini Sengupta, sees Deepak Pradhan played by Dev arrive in a town as a police officer to take care of the law and order. A t2 chat with Dev, Atanu and Avijit at Calcutta Rowing Club.

How did you zero in on the subject of Pradhan?

Dev: Atanuda decided on the subject; then he discussed it with Avijit. And then they came to me. It is all about teamwork. We are like a family now. We pitch in with ideas in the hopes of making the best film possible. Atanuda tends to think of a storyline that will move the audience.
Atanu: Subhadeep Das then writes the dialogues. This is our process. We work like this throughout the year.

If an idea doesn’t work, do you put it on the back burner?

Atanu: Yes. Brainstorming is an important part of the process. For Projapoti, Avijit had read a newspaper article and sent me a screenshot. That’s when the idea came to me and I told Avijit that we could make a great film. Then we gradually developed the story and came up with the characters.
Dev: See, I don’t like repeating the same ideas in my own films. And Pradhan is like a breath of fresh air. I am very happy that I am working with a team that always thinks out of the box.

We are already getting the audience’s love and appreciation. The trailer is a huge hit. People have loved the music of the film. We are looking forward to the audience’s reactions now. The story of Pradhan is completely different from Tonic or Projapoti. It is very relevant.

Avijit, were you under pressure to deliver a success hat-trick with Pradhan?

Avijit: With each film, we start from the beginning. We mull over the execution and how to tell the story with the greatest impact. We did not set a target like that. We want to tell a story that will move the audience. People watch Bengali films in the theatres to celebrate the time spent with their families. For us, cinema is a celebration of family time. The setting and premise will always change with each film.

The treatment of Dev’s character as a police officer is larger than life. The way he is projected in Pradhan is very different from what he had done in Tonic and Projapoti. He does action scenes; his character arrives on screen with a signature background score....

Dev: The story unfolds in a village and my character is rooted in realism. He is very honest and full of emotion. He wants to help other people. We had discussed that the treatment of my character would be commercial.

Like you had done in your earlier films....

Dev: Yes. But he is very rooted... in his behaviour, in his dialogue delivery. Pradhan is a new-age commercial cinema. People might call it a brave film, but this kind of cinema was part of our tradition. For example, a film like Shotru. At that point in time, we did not think of terms like agenda or propaganda. We did not view those films through that lens.

In Pradhan, we have created a fictional world where a police officer arrives in a village with various issues. I do not like propaganda films. I do not believe in them. Pradhan is an entertainer.

Avijit, is Pradhan a political or a family film?

Avijit: It is a family drama. In our film, the village is the family. We have gone beyond the family living inside a home. There is nothing here that is against any system. It is about how all of us can live together amicably.
Dev: I knew how my character Deepak Pradhan would walk, how he would talk from the beginning. I worked on his body language.
Atanu: Dev has given his best performance in Pradhan. He just became the character.

Why did you choose the name Deepak Pradhan for the character?

Avijit: Atanuda suggested the name.
Atanu: The character bears a lot of similarities with Dev.
Avijit: He is outstanding in the film. Since he knows the milieu, the people, it was easier for him to deliver this performance... to be so convincing.

Pradhan also sees Dev and Soham coming together....

Dev: We began our careers around the same time as heroes, though he started as a child actor years ago. We were together in one film, Shudhu Tomari Jonnyo, but we had different tracks. We shot only a sequence (together) for that film. Soham has always been a good friend.
Atanu: Dev has become so giving as an actor. During the shoot, he pointed out one of his sequences and said that it was not working and to drop it. Who will do that? For Dev, the film is much more important.

How does this happen for a star?

Dev: It is teamwork. See, if the film succeeds, I will get the credit. I don’t have to be there in every frame of the film. If I have three scenes, I am confident enough that I’ll score with them.

Fans would like to see more of you in your films.

Dev: The story is the main hero. Everyone on the team of a successful film will own that film. The definition of a successful film has changed now. The screentime of a hero is not important. He or she should be there to serve the story. Dialogue is an actor’s biggest weapon. Since I played a mute character in Zulfiqar, I had none. I have been able to control my ego. Also, as a producer, I do not want to see any actor feel insecure on my set. They should feel comfortable in my production.

How was your chemistry with Paran Bandopadhyay?

Dev: He is becoming younger every day. We should make a film with Paranda and title it Jawan! Paranda is an institution; he is part of our family. The way he has performed is just amazing and our chemistry is on point. He has so much positive energy, and one can feed off that. Just by looking at Paranda, one feels happy and energised.

Tell us about the shooting experience....

Atanu: Right beside the beautiful Murti River, our resort was a heavenly place with the Gorumara forest on the other bank of the river. On nights we would spend time looking at the beautiful darkness on the other side or take walks in the garden. Unfortunately, in the last couple of days, walks became rare once a rock python was spotted near our resort. But that was not the only adventure. Paranda spotted a cheetah cub while coming back from a location on the roadside. While that would have scared many, this ever-young gentleman was very excited about his adventure and told the whole unit about it. Till we were in North Bengal, I don’t think he ever stopped looking for another cheetah.

The three of you have become a box-office phenomenon now....

Dev: We try to live up to the expectations, and deliver something new. Expectations inspire and motivate us. We have always tried to expand our audience base.

Are you doing the fourth film together?

Avijit: Yes! We have decided on the release date but not the story yet (laughs)!