The year was 1998. I met a tall, lanky man, who introduced himself as Kaushik Ganguly. Back then, I was into regular acting and he came to me with the offer to play the lead in a serial, Bhalobasha Mondobasha. Apart from me, the cast included Sujan Mukherjee and Kanchan Mullick. The project started rolling in no time and came to a halt with the same amount of spontaneity with which it had begun. This, after shooting four episodes.
After that I joined a satellite channel and went my own way. In a few days, the director met me again. He said he would like to wrap up the serial in 12-13 episodes and that I needed to adjust my schedule. The shoot happened accordingly and all was well. Bhalobasha Mondobasha was completed in its second go. The serial shot two people into instant limelight — Kaushik Ganguly and Kanchan Mullick. I had shown the episodes to Nandita Roy, my senior in the satellite channel, who promptly cast Kanchan Mullick as the anchor in the reality show, Janata Express.
About Kaushik Ganguly, he soon came back into our lives in a moderately changed role. The satellite channel had taken the decision to open a slot for telefilms. Kaushikda got in touch with us with three scripts, all of which were given a thumbs up by Nanditadi. A day before the shoot, authorities from the channel were reluctant. That made Nanditadi livid. She has always been very straightforward all her life, never mincing words, not one to be bogged down by any kind of outside pressure.
Ritwika
She immediately shot a letter to the channel head saying if the telefilm was not shown, she would like to resign, as this only means there is no faith in her decision-making. I don’t know if Kaushikda knows all of this, but the telefilm was aired.
In fact, his telefilms grew in numbers and Kaushikda went on to dominate the slot with great gusto. Just that, we were not there in the same space anymore. Nanditadi and I eventually quit the channel to do things on our own. We even lost touch with Kaushikda, who took a bigger leap and went on to make films like Waaris, Shunyo E Buke and others. We also forayed into films in a few years.
Cut to 2017. Nanditadi and I were invited to St. Xavier’s to catch a few student plays. There we saw a tall and lanky young man effortlessly playing the part of Shylock in Merchant of Venice. We were bowled over by his histrionics and carried his thoughts back with us. We were told he was the son of Kaushik and Churni Ganguly and his name was Ujaan.
When Rosogolla was conceived, his name was again thrown up and Nanditadi gave her nod for Ujaan to be cast as Nabin Chandra Das. So, there we were, trying to launch a young man with acting in his genes and whose path miraculously crossed ours in the same way like that of his father, years back.
In Rosogolla, Ujaan’s acting was much appreciated. Reason why we wanted to work with him more. This time, we asked Kaushikda if he would like to direct his son.
A moment from Lokkhi Chhele, which releases today
He had a few scripts that he narrated and Lokkhi Chhele was what he chose from his oeuvre. Based on a true story, the film revolves around a village, where a young girl is born with four hands. The local priest declares her as the reincarnation of Goddess Lakshmi and people turn up in hordes to see her. Meanwhile, three friends, Amir, Gayetri and Shibnath, who are junior doctors at a medical college in Calcutta, land up in the village. They find themselves surrounded by the ‘business of faith’. They try to rationalise the turn of events with the villagers; but to no avail. Then they rise up to the occasion and launch a fight against superstitions.
Sad but true, people in our country have even sacrificed their lives in such fights. Physician, social activist, rationalist and author from Maharashtra — Narendra Achyut Dabholkar — who founded the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti was shot down by gunmen in Pune. As we are all set to release the film, I can’t but think of these great men and their sacrifices.
In Lokkhi Chhele, Ujaan has essayed the role of Amir, while Ritwika Pal and Purab Seal Acharya are seen as Gayetri and Shibnath. What has amazed me the most is the way these young actors have performed alongside senior actors like Churni Ganguly, Ambarish Bhattacharya and Pradip Bhattacharya, leaving a stamp of their own on the film.
As a production house, it is our responsibility to give a platform to new talents and I am glad we have successfully done that with our films.
Only this year, Windows had produced Aritra Mukherjee’s Baba, Baby O… that saw the big-screen debut of actor Solanki Roy and singer-songwriter Chamok Hasan. With Lokkhi Chhele, I have a lot of expectations from these young talents, who, I feel, have the power to change the world.
Nanditadi and I have always believed in cinema imitating life and in sync with our thoughts, Kaushikda’s Lokkhi Chhele holds a mirror to the society. It’s the real deal — its rawness hits you in the bones, sincerity touches your heart and honesty makes you think. Think of how this world would be a better place with more and more Lokkhi Chheles coming forward and just doing their bit.