When are you starting work on the sequel to Dwitiyo Purush?
(Laughs out loud) I don’t know… a lot of people have actually been clamouring for the third part! I have an idea, but I don’t know, it will happen when it will happen. I am not in a hurry. Every day I am getting fan theories on how to take it forward. See, I had thought of doing Dwitiyo Purush but it was always meant to be a standalone story. But there are certain people who have helped me on my journey as a filmmaker, which includes my audience and my producers, and I could not say no to them when they wanted a sequel (to 22shey Srabon), so I kind of merged both. Now, some people have a problem with it…
…since it messed up their romance, memories and the universe of 22shey Srabon…
….The times they had spent with Abhijit Pakrashi. See, the moment you try and pin down an underdog and banish him for a lifetime of a particular categorisation… that one has seen Abhijit like this and if I tell you that Abhijit is not actually this and it comes to you as a shocker, then I guess you will have to deal with it. I absolutely wanted this (the climax). Not for nothing have I dedicated this to Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle because in a number of their stories, it is the underdog who is actually the very unlikely culprit. And switch on your television sets… in real life, you’ll see the maximum number of killings done by apparently meek and submissive people.
See, it was a risk and I took this one and it paid off. The numbers are insane. In two weeks it notched up an incredible figure of approx Rs 4 crore at the box office. For a Bengali film, especially a non-festive release, that is humongous. That happened because people went to watch a thriller where anyone can be anything. And went for repeat viewings. The 22shey... curiosity carried it for three days, and then the merit of the film took over. Once you stop treating the part one of a thriller as a fairy tale where there is a prince, a princess, an ogre and a donkey… you don’t know the donkey might become the ogre in the second part… and when that donkey kicks you it really hurts (smiles)! I am absolutely enjoying it.
You wanted the ending to be like this?!
I really wanted this. Because I have always taken on the holy cow syndrome. It started with looking at the matinee idol in Autograph… then I challenged the whitewashing of the character of the prince of Bhawal… the whitewashing that happened in Sanyasi Raja. Then I dealt with the biggest of all holy cows, the death theories of Bose, something no filmmaker has dared to touch, approach, challenge or explore. I love taking on the holy cow syndrome. This time it was more interesting since it was a holy cow created by myself (laughs)! It becomes that much more interesting, possibly tougher also. But there is a line in 22shey Srabon, which gives me that allowance which says, ‘Asholey shotti boley shotti kichhu nei’. At the same time there is a social side to it. A lot of people have a problem with the underdog emerging the winner in the end. And a lot of people, and I am really sad to notice this, have a problem with accepting the fact that how can one of ‘them’ become one of ‘us’. How can a hardened criminal be one of us! Here’s an interesting observation. Not a happy observation, but it comes through so strongly in some of the feedback. The element of otherisation is coming through very blatantly.
So, as long as murder convicts are staging Tagore’s Balmiki Pratibha for you, and you are sitting in your nice, middle-class, cultured cocooned reality, clapping and having cucumber sandwiches, that’s absolutely fine, right? But then when we suddenly realise that the one guy who we thought was one of us is actually a reformed person, you have a problem. Why this shock? Yes, the social ambit of Abhijit Pakrashi was in the dark. My point is that this also has real-life precedence. You have had serial killers living normal lives for years keeping their close ones in the dark.
In fact, recently in Bareilly, UP, a murder convict was found to be posing as a policeman for 19 years — an incident which totally destroys claims that the twist is ‘absurd’. Abhijit is not a pathologically, mentally disbalanced person, which he defends throughout in the film. In various conversations, he tries to say that gang war and serial killings are different. When he is defending Prabir, he is actually saying I am not a serial killer! He is saying, ‘I just had a dark past.’ The first clue that is given in the film about his identity is that he second guesses his subordinate about the motive of Khoka. Abhijit says that Khoka could have done it to scare the other gang members or the police, which is exactly what Khoka says when he does the inscription for the first time. There are also visual clues throughout.
Like, cutting from little Khoka asking for chicken chowmein and chilli fish for the first time to the close-up of Abhijit having his fish fry… he is asked, ‘Will you have anything more?’ Abhijit refuses, saying that he has acidity. That was intentionally done?
Absolutely! Also the biggest giveaway was his scene with Raima Sen… Abhijit gets defensive and angry, and asks, ‘How can I see Khoka?’ Then he defends Prabir where he is actually defending himself. He says, ‘This Khoka is going to chase me for the rest of my life.’ This is the Khoka he has been running away from. He has actually been running away from himself all these years. Clues are scattered all over, you just need to take off your blinkers, stop your idol worship of 22shey Srabon and look at Dwitiyo Purush in its own context and universe. Those who have done that, have said the climax is better than 22shey... they have loved Dwitiyo Purush. They are clamouring for a sequel. This film had the right amount of jaw-dropping, rug-pulling, social norm-breaking elements. I have seen the entire auditorium breaking into spontaneous clapping in the last 15 minutes.
And some have gone OMG!
Yes, but I will look at the majority. I cannot make a film which will please everyone. For me, this is what I stand for… these are the issues I feel strongly about… like otherisation, homosexuality. If one goes OMG in the climax at two men kissing then I think the problem is in your homophobic head. So please go and cure yourself… also there is the entire concept of rehabilitation and reformation. And here, the violence and the underbelly is not beautifully gift-wrapped in kobita like 22shey Srabon…
From kobita, it has gone into Korean thriller mode!
Hyan, as long as you have your Shakti Chattopadhyay, and it is laced with intellectual ornamentation, everything is fine with the world… the moment that peeling comes off, then you have problems.
Did you come up with the climax first and then back calculate the story while writing this film?
No, the idea was of a man who is chasing himself… and then I modified it to — it looks like a man chasing himself who is actually running away from himself. A man who is running away from himself posing as a man who is chasing himself. Then I built the characters and events and fleshed it out.
You have paid tribute to Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds (the scenes of carving swastikas on foreheads.)…
The moment you start executing a film all your tributes come. Harry Potter and cricketing references come in. The colour palette is drawn a lot from 22shey Srabon. And obviously there is my love for Chinese food. People are posting pictures of the restaurants in Chinatown. And chicken chowmein and chilli fish are a rage. This film has given an unforgettable character to Bengali cinema, and that is Khoka. If 22shey... is about Prabir, this one is about Khoka. See, again, even after my underdog does all of this, Khoka becomes popular… and that is where my fight continues. I will always fight for the underdog. I don’t think Abhijit got overshadowed by Khoka. This has to be one of Param’s top three performances ever. He is outstanding in the film. The way he breaks down in the end and recovers is outstanding.
How could little Khoka fool the doctor?
A large part of the brain is still unknown to us. We do not know what exactly goes on in which part of the brain. And it is a cinematic tool, which has been used in many films before and we have happily given that willing suspension of disbelief. The brain damage and the brutal torture was true. On the basis of the symptoms the doctor said he has amnesia. Khoka is creating the symptoms. Remember, the doctor was saying, ‘It was difficult to say.’ With the brain you can never be too sure. But yes, you can put it down to his erroneous diagnosis… because please remember this whole thing was done in a hush hush manner. It was done hastily because the guy was trying to hush up police torture. It was not that rigorous. And you combine that with the sharpness of the little devil, and I don’t think it is too much of a stretch. If you are still iffy, then you can put it down to a bad, tuke paash kawra doctor! (Laughs)
How would you describe the shoot of the final 15 minutes? How did the actors react when you first told them about it?
It was something new for them. See, for me it is a violent love story. My brief to them (Param and Anirban) was that let the last 15 minutes elevate the film from being a thriller to a love story. I told them to give it all and not to hold back. They gave it all. Like two boxers they went to their respective corners, charged themselves and got into the ring. I knew if we were taking the plunge, let’s go for it, from the build up to the passion, Param’s break down.
Was the love triangle between Param, Raima and Abir a bit undercooked?
See, it was cooked really well in 22shey Srabon. I had kept a part of it in my fridge to be had as dessert later. Since I was cooking after so many years, I just took it out of the deep fridge, and served it.
Do you feel the wordplay that was used undermined the emotional depth of certain scenes?
I had to do it here because it was connected with 22shey… and 22shey... was full of that because it was my second film. Earlier, till about Hemlock Society I had this tendency of doing wordplay, which I consciously curbed later. But this film is connected with 22shey... I tried to keep the linguistic continuity.
What’s your take on the feedback?
I am overwhelmed! I have delivered three back-to-back blockbusters (Vinci Da, Gumnaami and Dwitiyo Purush). For this film, I got logical and emotional criticism. I have answered the logical criticism and enjoyed the emotional criticism. Because I wanted to do it, because that is the wicked cruel me… I will always attack the holy cow syndrome and this tendency to bracket or categorise people and characters for posterity.
Will you do something different with Feluda?
No no, see, I also operate like a serial killer! I have already given out so many signs and images by comparing the master’s sketches with the frames. I am following all the commas and semicolons.
How did you come up with the name Khoka?
I just wanted the juxtaposition of the innocence of the word Khoka with the brutal killing he used to do.
