The film Aay Khuku Aay, starring Prosenjit and Ditipriya Roy, revolves around the tale of Nirmal and his daughter Buri. In the story, the daughter aspires to be a famous dancer, but due to circumstances, things go wrong and she falls into a trap. Directed by Sauvik Kundu and produced by Jeetz Filmworks Private Limited and Grassroot Entertainment, the film — that releases on June 17 — goes to show the emotional turmoil between the father and daughter. A candid chat with Prosenjit and Ditipriya at Prosenjit’s Ballygunge home....
Ditipriya plays with Prosenjit’s pet Rocky
Bumbada, your look in the film has come in for a lot of praise....
Prosenjit: I was constantly thinking about it. You need a backstory for your look, which may not be there in the film, but that story would make me arrive at the look of my character. We were also working on that story. We had to think of the character arc... the time when he was successful and his struggle now. I was looking at Nirmal Mondal in a certain way. I know people like him. Slowly we arrived at his look. Once that look emerged, there was an instant curiosity factor among the people. Apart from his look, I also worked on his body language... the way he would walk and talk. There were people who couldn’t hold back tears after seeing me in that look. They had never seen me like this before. It became very emotional on the sets too.
Ditipriya: For me, Prosenjit Chatterjee is an emotion. We all look up to him. I was the happiest person when I got to know about Aay Khuku Aay. Of course, there was that initial nervousness... the best part was that he had seen my work before. I was so overwhelmed.
Prosenjit: She had played Rani Rashmoni (in a television series), who is an elderly character... and she was successful in doing it... people believed in her and was convinced by her performance.
Ditipriya: Getting to play his daughter was a huge thing for me. Through the shoot I got to know him better, someone who is so down to earth. Before this film, I had met Baba (Prosenjit, who plays her father in the film) at award shows.
Ditipriya, you call him Baba now?!
Ditipriya: Yes! It is a term of endearment. He has a different place in my life now. Once I landed on the set I realised that Baba knows the script by heart. He can start from any scene.
Prosenjit: There are a lot of moments in the film which are improvised; we came up with those during the shoot, and the director would give us a free hand. We would create moments for the film in our own way at times. Sauvik would keep in mind the shot division and would give us the theme and emotion of a scene, and we would do it in our own way.
Ditipriya: Baba did a scene where he is washing clothes and that happened on set, just like that. He came up with the idea.
Prosenjit: And you know that I like to be on set, I don’ t like to stay in my vanity van. I like to be immersed in the energy of the set, I like to hear the murmur that’s all around during a shoot.
Ditipriya: And it was such a blessing for me, to watch Baba from close quarters and learn so much from him.
Prosenjit and Ditipriya watch the trailer of 'Aay Khuku Aay'
How is Ditipriya on set?
Prosenjit: She chats with everyone on set... she becomes a part of the unit.
Ditipriya: I am very close to Baba, and we share a very special bond.
Bumbada, do you guide her now regarding work? Do you give her advice?
Prosenjit: Yes, I do... and beyond films also. And she listens to it... almost 80 per cent of it!
Ditipriya, what’s your father saying after watching the trailer?
Ditipriya: My father said that your on-screen father and I have one thing in common... the receding hairline (laughs). On a serious note, he got very emotional after watching it!
Prosenjit: After a certain age, girls start taking on the responsibilities of mothers... some behave like one too. Their maternal instincts come in. That’s also depicted nicely in the film.
You shot for the film outside Kolkata where crowds would gather to watch the shoot. How challenging was it?
Prosenjit: They knew that I was shooting there, the news had spread. But they couldn’t spot me since I was in the look of Nirmal.
Ditipriya: They got a bit confused, they thought a lookalike was shooting. Later they got to know that it was Prosenjit shooting there and the crowd just swelled. The director had difficulty taking drone or wide-angle shots since all those people would constantly come into the frame. Recently I went to shoot in a village, and Aay Khuku Aay had already created a buzz by then. And when the people there saw me, their level of expectation went up, they thought that Baba would arrive to shoot there. Immediately there was a hullabaloo around our set. They started waiting to catch a glimpse of Baba.
Bumbada, one of the reasons you were attracted to this film is because your character is very rooted, right?
Prosenjit: The storyline has all the emotions and at the same time it reminds one of old Bengali films. It has that essence. In the last 12 years I have experimented with all kinds of characters. I felt that the masses will be able to connect with Nirmal. He is the common man and his simplicity is so endearing.
Prosenjit and Ditipriya in 'Aay Khuku Aay', which releases on June 17
A part of the film revolves around the idea of lookalikes. Have you interacted with your lookalikes?
Prosenjit: Yes, yes.
Ditipriya: You’ll find his lookalikes in Midnapore doing shows.
Prosenjit: They can imitate my voice as well. They walk like me, try to behave like me. There is one person who has all the spectacles or sunglasses that I have worn in films. He must have around 350 of them.
How was it like working with Sauvik?
Prosenjit: He is good... I liked his Switzerland also... I felt it was a modern film. He tells the story with simplicity and with a contemporary touch. He looks into all the details. I am very happy working with him.
Ditipriya, what’s you takeaway from the shooting experience?
Ditipriya: It was like a dream. Even when I am talking, I am looking at Baba. Whatever I have learnt from this man will stay with me forever. Such lovely bonds were formed.
Prosenjit: Yes, we had a lot of fun shooting for this film.
Pictures: Pabitra Das