It was double bonanza for Parambrata Chattopadhyay on December 10 as his Bengali film Antardhaan released in theatres and the web series Aranyak, starring Param and Raveena Tandon, also started streaming on Netflix from that day. Incidentally, both were shot in Himachal Pradesh. A candid chat with Param.
What are your thoughts on this special Friday?
It was a fabulous Friday for me. It is indeed exciting, the film is from 2019, it was stuck because of the pandemic whereas I did the series after the first wave.
Could you imagine this scenario (a double release, one on Netflix and the other in theatre) maybe three years ago?
Three years ago? No, I wouldn’t imagine this happening, neither would I imagine a lot of other things happening. You wouldn’t imagine so many people wearing masks when you walk out on the streets. You wouldn’t imagine carrying one thing in your pocket... and that is a little bottle of sanitiser. Once humankind has gone through such an exhaustive and a radically impactful phase in history, lots of things have changed. People’s viewing habits are evolving. People’s professional situations have changed. An important series releasing on such a big streaming platform and a film releasing in theatres on the same day ... it’s not something I would envision three years ago. I am fortunate that way.
Neel Mukhopadhyay and Parambrata in Antardhaan
What does it say about the changing landscape of cinema in India? Do you see makers creating content for both equally or do you see the web space having an edge?
A creator creates separately for films and OTT. When you are creating for a show, you have to keep certain things in mind.... it is in the long format, will be spread over six episodes if not more, there is an elaborate way of telling a story. If you would want to tell the same story for a two-hour film, there would be a certain economy of expression, certain economy of sub plots. It is a great exercise for a creator to juggle between these two formats because it just tells you how many ways you can approach one particular subject... that is great. It tells you how and where you need to be economical; which are the emotional junctures which you need to focus more when you are making a two-hour film. With films, you have to have that sense of precision to pick exactly those characters or emotions which would actually convey your final message to the audience by the end of the film. You really need to know what your film is about. These are two different kinds of challenges, two different kinds of trips... they can give you different kinds of creative satisfaction. But when somebody sets out to think of something, I don’t think they consciously think it is for series or films.
How was 2021 for you?
It has been a mix of things actually. Professionally, I have been busy in two languages, as an actor as well as a creator. It has been good. Then the second wave... it was unbearable to watch what was going on. My friends and I got into the thick of it and tried to make a little bit of difference. There was also a lot of political uncertainty in the middle of the year, we were bracing for a kind of situation in West Bengal... and it turning out the way it did turn out... had its own moments of contemplation, consideration as well as relief. It has been an exciting and interesting year so far.
Do you have New Year resolutions or things you want to do next year?
I do not believe in resolutions but in general I would like to cut down on my nervous energy a little bit. I need to be a little calmer from deep within. I need to focus a little bit on that.
What’s the best part about Antardhaan for you?
It is a very clean, taut and tight thriller. It does not aim to become very big ever. It remains in its space. It never really goes out of its space and tries to become something that it never really set out to be. It is about a family getting completely ruffled, their status and the health of the family turning upside down because of their daughter going missing. An investigator coming in to investigate the case and how there is a stark revelation at the end... it remains quite true to its nature. That is quite nice about Antardhaan. It is shot quite nicely in the hills of northern India, which is a welcome change in Bengali cinema. It was nice to see a different atmosphere. It also makes the family a little more awkward, ill at ease, because they are a Bengali family living in an alien land in a way. It makes them a little more vulnerable... because there was a little language gap.
What kind of preparations did you take to play the role of the father in Antardhaan?
We did have quite a few sessions and there were certain aspects of the script which I was not completely sure about and I had a thorough discussion with Arindam (Bhattacharya; director) and the main actors. We kept modifying them, kept discussing, kept throwing our own respective logic to each other, and in the end we managed to arrive at a concrete solution.
One day during shoot you got very upset when you saw a group of people littering. What happened there?
I have an issue with people littering. I make people pick up their litter, especially if it is plastic. I feel South Asians really need to do something about it. I don’t think we are climate literate at all. Plastic doesn’t die. Why can’t we put these packets in a dumpster or dustbin or garbage can? It is my earnest request to the administration everywhere in South Asia to provide for enough number of dustbins. We need to have enough number of dustbins everywhere and permanent ones so that people can’t really steal them. Something needs to be done. I don’t mean to sound posh or snobbish but it is not nice... it just makes our city, our country look very bad.
Will you be acting in more national web shows in 2022 and cutting down on acting work in Bengali films?
I am fortunate to have remained one of the more busy actors in the last one-and-a-half years, and I have been doing Bengali and Hindi work simultaneously. I am really fortunate. In the coming days, yes, there are a few things I have already done after Aranyak and I am doing right now, and will be doing in the next few months. At the same time I’ll be doing Bengali projects as well. I’ll be producing Bengali films. Till about mid-2022 I’ll be balancing both these things out and then see how it goes after that.
Will you be producing more content next year?
Yes, we already are producing, we have a few shows in the pipeline for different platforms. I am very excited about that. We are producing a few Bengali films, around three for 2022 and hopefully a Hindi show as well. Being a part of Roadshow, we are looking forward to this journey of 2022 as a content creator in a bigger and better way.