I want to become an actor too and make my future in the film industry and occupy a position of fame and reputation in the world of films. What should I do?

Arkajit Datta Gupta

Koushik Sen: First, knowing your age was extremely necessary for me to answer this. I am considering that you are a young guy, and such dreams and aspirations are extremely healthy and one should have them. One needs to realise that most of the time young people get attracted to this profession externally, by seeing the glamour and glitter of this profession. You need to know that just like sports, science, medical or engineering involves extensive training and education, you should not be under the impression that in order to become an actor you don’t have to go through that.

There is a proper course and there is a proper way of learning things otherwise one cannot survive as a professional actor. Fame is farther away from that. You should start with theatre locally. Get an impression about acting or if there aren’t any good theatre groups around the place you stay, you should try getting involved in any theatre group from Calcutta and then you must look for a bigger institution to learn from. If you want to progress in films then you should apply to NSD or SRFTI or FTII. One should not take up acting on the basis of any rosy ideas. You need to remember these things if you really want to become a professional actor.

Reshmi: It is not right to think that one is going to act and earn fame right from the beginning. I don’t know what kind of preparation you have with regards to acting. Like every other profession, one needs to learn about acting too. For that you need to start doing theatre. But to think that theatre will give you a chance in cinema anyhow is not right. But learning acting is important. And it is wrong to keep an expectation like this from the very beginning that one will get fame from this profession. One should learn acting without keeping any such expectation.

Riddhi: I am nobody to advise like this but still, rather than searching for fame and reputation, it is more important to focus on the craft. We see many actors who have not got fame but they still continue in this profession. The first step towards becoming an actor is to forget about fame and reputation, and focus on learning the craft to begin with. In India, it is a difficult scenario because we don’t have acting schools. It is best to join a theatre group and get hands-on experience.

I would like to know when will this amazing trio share screen space together as a family?

Madhumanti Chakraborty

Koushik: This is very tricky in our industry. In theatre we can create something together but in films, television or OTT projects these are things that really don’t depend on us. But I think it will be possible very soon. Riddhi has already directed a short film called Coldfire, where I played the protagonist and Reshmi did a special appearance though Riddhi didn’t act in it as he was the director... he didn’t want to cast himself. But I am sure in future he will do many such projects as a director and maybe all three of us can act together.

Reshmi: (Laughs) This depends on the directors. If any director wants to cast us together then we will definitely do it.

Riddhi: (Smiles) We did a short film for a Windows production during last year’s lockdown called Shilpi. For that we did the shoot from home, and the three of us shared screen space. On the big screen, I think we might do it soon.

I’ve watched many of your group Swapnasandhani’s shows and loved them. Through this letter, I also want to convey my best wishes to the theatre group for all their future productions. My question is, who designed Swapnasandhani’s wonderful logo?

Sourish Misra

Koushik: Thanks for your love for theatre and Swapnasandhani. This logo has undergone a change. Initially, this logo was designed by one of our early group members, Dhrubo Banerjee, who is now a popular director of films like Durgeshgorer Guptodhan. Later, it underwent a lot of changes, and finally on our 25th year, our logo was changed and this time it was done by an artiste and art student from London named Shrestha Das.

Koushik Sen sir, you have worked in both films and theatre. A number of stalwarts feel that theatre is a much better platform to learn acting than films. We all know that film allows retakes whereas theatre doesn’t. What is your opinion on both? Provided you are given a chance to choose any one of them, which one would you choose? Film or theatre?

Arshi Hazra

Koushik: This question involves a lot of discussions. I don’t have scope for that but thank you for asking this interesting question. First, if ever I was given this opportunity to choose between these two I would always choose theatre. Second, as a young theatre lover or cinema lover you should know that both the streams have their own advantages and disadvantages. At this age and juncture in my career, I do not consider that this one is far difficult or that one is not so difficult. In cinema, you get the chance of retakes but on stage you don’t. This is true... but in theatre you get the opportunity to rehearse for months. In the case of films you can’t do much rehearsals. In theatre, the shows are repeated so there’s an opportunity for you to correct yourself in the next show and improvise. But in the case of a film, once the director is satisfied even if you are not satisfied as an actor you cannot help. That has already been recorded and it will stay like that forever. And if you don’t like your performance each time you see the movie, you have to shut your eyes, there is no other way.

But certainly, as a learning process we can see that all stalwarts from various parts of the world have said that the best way to begin your acting journey is through theatre. I will certainly choose theatre each and every time I am given this opportunity.

Reshmi Sen ma’am, the content of our films are evolving now and are not limited to only family dramas or the romcom. With OTT giving a tough competition to the big screen, content is the prime focus of creators now. Theatre has also always been a food for thought. What’s your take on daily soaps?

Arshi Hazra

Reshmi: It is true that in the case of films content has undergone change. Now, a lot of films are happening that are content-based. Different kinds of works are also visible on the OTT platforms, be it in Hindi, English or Bengali and they are great. In television, there are some producers in the Bengali industry who are thinking about different content, like Sushanta Das and Leena Gangopadhyay. And definitely different content should come to television to change the audience’s mind. If we give the audience good content, they will see it.

Riddhi, you have worked in both regional and national industries with stars like Kajol. What is the basic difference between these two industries? What kind of perception do Bengalis have in the national industry?

Arshi Hazra

Riddhi: The primary constraint is just the mindset. But now I think, the difference between regional and national industry is getting blurred. Now, it is no longer like this... it is a wrong perception that just because any work is being created in the regional level, it is not receiving national acclaim. The difference is just the financial constraint.

A work being made in English is being released nationwide, in a number of theatres, so the number of viewers is more, and budget constraint is not there. But for the regional industry, the budget constraint, limited number of shooting days... these are the things that the audience don’t understand. But both the industries have its pros and cons.

The concept of regional cinema has been very different there, but now slowly that notion is breaking and regional actors are working in that industry too. But for me it is not very important that a regional actor has to to work in a national industry to prove his or her talent but regional films should be appreciated nationally.

Over here, there is a perception among some that only if an actor gets a part in a national project, they are considered to be in the peak of their careers. That is not true.

Regional films should be pushed more and should be released nationally, so that people can see their own work in their own language.

On OTT platforms we are getting to see a lot of regional cinema that people can see nationally. I think it is just a mindset that a regional star has to work in Bombay.

I really have very positive experiences of working in that industry. If you see the history of cinema you will see that the Hindi film industry has the contribution of a lot of Bengali film-makers and actors starting from Bimal Roy, Basu Chatterjee, Hrishikesh Mukherjee to Shoojit Sircar, Sujoy Ghosh, Anurag Basu and Dibakar Banerjee. A lot of Bengali technicians are also there, like Sudeep Chatterjee, who is one of the best cinematographers. The Hindi film industry is full of Bengali artistes.