Prosenjit has been spending a lot of time in Mumbai after the success of the web shows Jubilee and Scoop. December saw him attending meetings, jamming with writers and listening to ideas for upcoming Hindi films and web shows. “Bombay has become my workplace and I am enjoying it. A script is worked on for almost two years... I am listening to different ideas as well,” said Prosenjit, who is all set to return to the director’s chair this year. A t2 chat.

2023 has been a great year for you. Your films and web shows are on the Top 10 lists everywhere.

Jubilee and Scoop have received national acclaim and the audience has showered them with a lot of love. I was nominated in major categories of national award shows and I picked up a few awards too for Jubilee. Shesh Pata turned out to be one of the best in Indian cinema. Dawshom Awbotaar was a blockbuster and Kaberi Antardhan was a fantastic film. I have completed shooting for a very important film (Ajogya) by Kaushik Ganguly. 2023 has been a wonderful year for me. I got to play so many layered characters. It reminded me of the time when I did Moner Manush and Autograph and they were released in the same year (2010).

This time I did take up the challenge and people are appreciating my performances nationally. I am so happy. As an actor, it has been a very fulfilling year for me. I wasn’t really planning to do a web series. It just happened. Then the pandemic hit and we had to wait for two-and-a-half years. Then I got to revisit my character in Jubilee once again. It was a new journey in a new format. It feels great to see the young generation admiring my work also.

You had earlier told us that you try to reinvent yourself every 10 years...

I keep trying. You have all seen it. I always try to present myself in a new way. Apart from this, I am working on a big Hindi film which I will direct. I have deconstructed myself as an actor and I felt OTT was the future.

After the acclaim that you got for Jubilee, what kind of changes do you see happening in Bombay?

I am being offered a lot of scripts... but I am not in a hurry. I am very careful... and I am going through the scripts to pick the right one, keeping in mind the impact my character will have and the reach of the series and films. I am keeping my fingers crossed. Bombay works in a very different way. It takes time. I am doing a national project with a very special director... there’s one Hindi film and one for an international streaming platform.

We also hear that you are directing a film on Noti Binodini with Kangana Ranaut...

It will take time. We plan to shoot a large part of the film in Calcutta around Durga Puja this year.

You had directed the film Purushottam, which was considered way ahead of its time, in the early 1990s. Why decide to return to direction?

I have been working on my dream project, the Hindi film that I mentioned at the beginning of this interview, for a long time. I have something to say there. And for the film on Noti Binodini, Pradeep Sarkar was working on it. But then he passed away. Then I came into this... everybody, including the studio, the producer, felt that I could do it. I had read a lot about Noti Binodini in the past. Kangana is a wonderful actress.

I would love to give a lot of time to direction. Technology has changed. And I always like to be relevant. In fact, once I have completed directing at least five films, I would like to ask my audience one question: am I a better actor who has done more than 350 films or a better director? I know that I am a good director. As a director, I will do something sensible... something that is relatable. I am a student of cinema and I represent the Bengali film industry. I will not direct a film just on a whim. It will be an intelligent film with a commercial sensibility.

Your production house nIdeas has once again started producing serials....

We will also produce films. I was waiting for the right associations and we started with this one (Alor Koley). We are focusing on Bengal and then might go national as well. The company has to grow, and for that one has to get into the world of OTT and television.

Do you have in mind certain kinds of shows that you would like to produce in the future?

I would love to do something like Gaaner Oparey. But that’s not always possible. One has to keep in mind the TRP of today. I am not getting into the creative side of it right now. Television works in a different way and I would like to explore that in the future.

What are your resolutions for this year?

To get into direction. That will be a new journey. I will start work on new films. I will have to be very focused.

Will your son Mishuk join the film industry and start acting in films from next year?

Not right now. It might take another two years. Let him be ready. I always tell him one thing — don’t chase. It will happen.

What are your thoughts on the Bengali films of 2023?

It was a good year. Audiences are flocking to the theatres in large numbers to watch the films. A few years ago some people had shown concern over web shows becoming popular. Some felt that OTT would take over. But I have always maintained that the magic of cinema will always stay. The taste of the audience for cinema has changed. They want to see big-scale, tentpole films in the theatres. So one has to work towards that. I did Dawshom... which had commercial sensibilities.

What is the secret to staying relevant as a star?

It is about changing with the times, be it in terms of story selection, execution or adapting to new technology. A senior person has to embrace and endorse the new and innovate. One needs to be creative, have a proper plan in place to reach out to the audience... and the promotion has to be designed. The soul or the essence of a film drives the promotions and one has to do it accordingly. You have to innovate with promotions too. I remember posing for photographs separately for the posters of Sasurbari Zindabad. That’s how the trend of poster shoots started in Bengali films. One realised you need to do a separate photoshoot only for posters. The quality of posters changed from then on.

See, as a senior one must acknowledge and embrace the promise, ingenuity and brilliance of the younger generation. And I am still doing that... reinventing myself and working with new, young talent.

 Cover and inside lead pictures: Meetesh Taneja
Styling: Balvinder Narang