Actors Vikram Chatterjee and Sohini Sarkar pair up for the first time for a big-screen release to entertain the Bengali film audience with a horror rom-com. Horror, comedy, romance come together in this love story of a ghost with a human. Omorshongi is set to release on January 31. From impossible love to hopelessly in love, the trailer gives us a sneak peek into the thrill that awaits in the theatre. Ahead of the film’s release, t2 caught up with Vikram and Sohini for an adda on the film and more, along with a special shoot on the streets of Calcutta.

Vikram, you have been manifesting this casting for a long time…

Vikram: Yes!
Sohini: Both of us were manifesting it.
Vikram: Before this film happened, we had discussed working together many times. There were two films that we were almost about to do together but that didn’t happen. Finally, this one worked out. I had listened to this story from another producer, initially. He shelved it for a long time. So, I asked the director whether he had any written agreement with the producer and if not whether he would like to pitch it to someone else. I was very interested in the story. My friend Avinaba (Ghosh) wanted to produce a love story and he came on board.
Sohini: I didn’t know this back story!
Vikram: Dibya (Chatterjee) and Aritra (Sengupta) worked on the script together. We knew that if we do this film, it will be Sohini.
Sohini: I always do films with Abirda (Chatterjee) and Ritwickda (Chakraborty). It is good to do a film with someone else and be paired with a different actor.

Was it fun working on the set since you both shared a good bond for many years?

Sohini: It was fun but we also fought a lot all the time. All of us. We had a rain sequence and required an artificial water tank to create it. The water got over after taking his close-ups and mine was still left. I got very angry as I had to wait for another water tank to come to give the shot and holding on to that mood and emotion was difficult for that long. When I was already so pissed off, Vikram kept saying I will do far better than he did. That got me more angry. But whenever we all used to have a fight, we would also solve it amongst ourselves.
Vikram: It was five people thinking on the same page and trying to bring out the best out of themselves and each other creatively. The fights were all about that.
Sohini: But we also had great adda sessions. No matter how late we would pack up, we would never leave for home without an adda session.
Vikram: On some days, the caretaker used to wait for us to leave after the whole unit left! It was a good experience.

There’s a horror angle to the film… is it a horror love story?

Vikram: I believe it is an out-and-out horror rom-com. A very rare genre here. There’s a horror element and a comic element but it is also a romantic story. Our audience has seen such a genre in other languages but not in Bengali. I am very excited to see how they react to it.

Do you believe in ghosts?

Vikram: I feel scared.
Sohini: It is not important whether he believes or not! He feels scared! He had asked me once if I believe in ghosts… I had told him if God exists, ghosts too. If anything happened on the set, the people on the set would always relate it to a ghost. Suppose a bottle fell or the generator stopped working or there’s a powercut… our technicians would find a ghost angle to everything.
Vikram: we used to get to hear crazy sounds all the time.

Will people feel scared watching your love story in Omorshongi?

Vikram: No! It is a sweet ghost. One can fall in love with such a ghost.

Have you ever had a love story in your life that became a horror story?

(Both laugh)

Vikram: But the horror angle in this film is very lovable. There will be a love angle to the horror....
Sohini: After growing up, whenever a relationship failed, the love story would feel like a horror story!
Vikram to Sohini: Were you ever toxic with any guy?
Sohini: I cannot say that I am not toxic but the idea is to acknowledge that you are toxic about certain things and be aware of it. Today, I can say that I am not toxic but I can become toxic any day about a certain thing but the idea is to not blame the other person for becoming toxic. For me, I can identify it and rectify it. But I feel if a relationship breaks, it is for two people. It cannot be for one person.
Vikram: In any relationship, both have good and bad sides to them.
Sohini: A relationship will always work if we talk about our own toxicity, realise it and rectify it. But the moment we start talking about the other person’s toxicity, then a relationship cannot sustain.
Vikram: I think we all have baggages and our toxic traits can develop from there. But I agree with Sohini that if we identify our own toxic traits and try to rectify it, it works.
Sohini: And it is important to not feel proud about it!
Vikram: Totally.

Who pulled whose leg on the set?

Vikram: Everyone did that to everyone.
Sohini: But they all loved bullying me, especially at the wrong time. Suppose I have an important scene… and it used to piss me off.
Vikram: But that was not unintentional… that was the whole point… to get you pissed!
Sohini: When we were doing this film… my relationship with Shovan had just begun. When Shovan used to come to pick me up… and they all knew that he was standing with the Scooty and waiting for me....
Vikram: We used to try and extend the 10-minute chat to 30 minutes.

Omorshongi means eternal love. Are you both believers in eternal love?

Vikram: I am a hopeless romantic when it comes to eternal love in life. I think most of us who grew up watching the ’90s Bollywood, think of love like that. The way we want to experience love is hugely inspired by Bollywood of the ’90s. It may not always be realistic.
Sohini: For me, love is totally like the movies. If the vision doesn’t match I start feeling restless… I already imagined myself married to the guy I fell in love with in Class 6! All inspired from films!

But now when you choose your partners are you more realistic or still filmi?

Sohini: In my shoots, the person who does my make-up is Shanu. Shanu tells us a lot about life and one day Shanu told me that he has observed that people who are self-obsessed, be it with their hair or clothing, cannot take care of their respective partner. This is something that I applied when I chose love. I chose a guy who doesn’t take care of himself. And he is very basic… even if we have a car, we roam around on a Scooty. I like it like that.
Vikram: I have reached a stage in life where I choose peace over anything else. For me, staying well and keeping the person I love well is higher on the priority list than anything else. A peaceful co-existence has become a lot more important with time. Now, if I think about how I want my love story to be, I probably want a person who has the capability to understand and is able to prioritise harmony and peace in life above everything else.

Sohini to Vikram: Will you like it if your partner takes any of your responsibilities?

Vikram: After a hard day’s work, if my partner can just make a cup of coffee and fall asleep hugging me, I will be happy. My partner has to take no responsibility. Maybe she called me four times during the day and I have not been able to entertain but she has to understand that I didn’t do that on purpose. She shouldn’t fight with me when I am back home. And if I can reciprocate that. On days, she has had a difficult day, if I can be the bigger person… this will make me most happy.

Sohini to Vikram: Are you emotional?

Vikram: Yes, with my partner I am very emotional but not with the outside world. Because the outside world has nothing to do with my emotions.
Sohini: I think like that but I always become emotional.
Vikram: Over time I groomed myself. I am emotional with my family, my partner and my pet. If my emotions are not prioritised by them then who will?

What did you admire about each other creatively while working in this film?

Vikram: Sohini was great to work with. She is very spontaneous. For any actor, it is a delight to have a spontaneous co-actor. To be able to reciprocate is a strength as an actor and she is very hassle-free. Avinaba is a brilliant producer to work with. This is my second film with him. They were there throughout.
Sohini: Yes, Avinaba is very good to work with. He takes care of everything related to the film. We were all happy souls on the set. And all of us are passionate about our work and creating something together… so we gave our best.
Vikram: Everybody who saw the clips of the film said that our chemistry is looking great, and for a romantic film, the leading actors having chemistry is very important. It makes me happy that I found another co-actor with whom my on-screen chemistry is being liked by people.
Sohini: Vikram is very particular. He thinks that it is his responsibility to make the scene look perfect even in a difficult situation. Because we can’t let the audience know through subtitles that we were in a difficult situation and so we acted badly. He takes it upon himself to get it done. It is something one can learn from him. For him, nothing else matters. If a scene hasn’t worked out, he will make sure he gets the scene done perfectly. Even if it means doing it 10 times. Even if it means convincing the co-actor to do it again. I cannot do it like that but it is not my responsibility to think that the production is getting late.

Valentine’s week is right ahead and your film is a horror rom-com. What do you love about being in love?

Vikram: Everything! Becoming another person’s world is a very special feeling.
Sohini: Getting to connect to someone and feeling like a team is a great feeling. In Omorshongi, too, we are childhood lovers and we team up as lovers.
Vikram: It is important to come back home to someone to whom I can say that I did something wrong or I am in trouble and the person will just say that we’ll figure it out together. That’s important.

What are you manifesting for yourself in 2025?

Vikram: Health and fulfillment.
Sohini: Peace and harmony.
Make-up: Sourav Das
Hair: Amrapali