Lalan, out of cocoon

How is it like getting into Lalan’s cloak?

It’s difficult. I’m concealed within my house for the last two months, as it’s an honest makeover and my director (Gautam Ghosh) is not okay with outsiders witnessing the transition or my getting exposed to media.

Must have been very difficult then, even for somebody like you…

I had to radically cut on commitments. I completed all pending shoots and haven’t faced arc lights for last two months. I’ve instructed my business team (Ideas Creations) to learn operating on its own as if I don’t exist. So there’s this aspect of economics as well. In other times, I’d shoot for a couple of movies at a time. Now I am not shooting at all, spending all my time to be somebody whose pictures are nowhere available. All we have is a sketch by Tagore, but that’s merely a sketch. But the film’s audiences will discover Lalan, not Prosenjit in the attire of a Baul. All this boils down to considerable pressure for me.

From the financial angle, there is no apparent reason why I should be living like this for just a film— in complete isolation. But I’m standing all troubles for I felt this was going to be a great movie and I should be in it. One, that will hopefully bear the signature of my skills or can be held as a spark of my prime—a film that will make my grandchildren proud of me and my work.

So what did you have to go through exactly?

Vikram Gaikwad, one of India’s best makeup artists, is supervising my makeover. Bauls normally sport long hair, often falling way below the shoulder. I had to do hair-extension whose results though excellent had made my life miserable. I can’t wash my hair while I bath; I visit a beauty parlour regularly as the hair needs special care--and so I got this ponytail. I had to grow facial-hair and got an itchy feeling all-over my face. I’ve stopped wearing western dresses because I am required to have some comfort-level with traditional Indian attires. I sit cross-legged on the floor for eating because Bauls do that. All this has been on for quite some time.

Apart from this, there are a lot of other things that you don’t possibly notice in the way I look now—but they’re taking up most of my time. I’m taking lessons of Baul songs from a Baul in order to make my lip-sync alright. But the lessons are more than just about songs. I feel I’ll be kind of able to relate to the soul of Baulism and in turn trace the contours of the man—about whom there’s not much material to read.

I’m also trying to master Ron Pa-riding (An old speed gear; a pair of bamboo-staffs with a jut above the middle of each. A Ron Pa-rider would place his feet on the juts and clutch the top-ends of the staffs. The gear augmented the effective length of the rider’s legs, gifting him an incredible speed while running.). This is a difficult task, prone to accidents, and could have been accomplished by the use of a double. But I want to do at least a few shots, the close ones, myself.

Does it sound long? The list of to-do’s goes even further.

It’s very interesting. Please carry on.

You may know, Bauls resort to yogic methods to rein their carnal desires. I’ve read that this self-control endowed them with great personal power; they revolted against social injustice and inequities. In Lalan, we have a philosopher, an artist and a rebel. To portray his less-known sides, I’ve taken to yoga. I should try to reflect at least a fraction of the poise and power that the great minstrel possessed. There’s a nice scene in the film where Lalan takes on a very prominent member of the Tagore clan, Dinendranath Tagore, played by Priyangshu Chatterjee.

As it seems, 2010 is going to be quite happening for you...

2010 is going to be extremely important, at least I hope so. Besides this one (Moner Manush), there are few other projects I’m very hopeful of. And none of them are typical Bengali mainstream flicks. Clerk, by Suvadra Chatterjee, was scheduled for a December release, but it may have been postponed. Among other interesting projects there is the one by Rituporno Ghosh and one by Bappadityo (Banerjee). Tony (Aniruddha Roychowdhury) will also do a film with me, but we are still working on the script. My company is producing a film by Anindyo Banerjee, I am playing an old protagonist in it.

And the one with Venkatesh films, Autograph, the remake of Nayak...

It’s not a remake of Nayak, it’s how the media interpreted it. Its format has some similarities with Nayak, such as, I’m playing a successful Bengali film actor. But that’s it.
 
It’s after a long time you’re working for Venkatesh. What happened in the meantime, some say there had been some kind of a rift between them and you?

All these are baseless. I watched the two (Mohendra Soni and Shrikant Mehta) grow up in this industry. They are like my brothers. Even now, if I call them at the dead of night for anything important, they would come rushing down. There’ve been all sorts of rumours of late because they are very successful now.
 
And no time for Haranath Chakroborty, Swapan Saha and their ilk...

When did I say that? Listen, what I have in me for such films cannot probably be called respect, but I owe a lot to them. I understand such formats very well. In older times I would be doing twelve or fourteen such films a year and eight of them would click. True, I am doing more of those that look different, but that’s not stopping me from doing Haranath’s or Swapanda’s films. What you can say is, with maturity I’m fussier about my roles now, and I am looking for meaningful characters that suit me. I can’t go on singing and dancing forever. For your information, Haranth’s new film starring me is ready for release. A film with Pravatda (Pravat Roy) is lying half-finished.

Do you perceive a change in the character of the Bengali moviegoers?

Of course there’s been a change. Isn’t it interesting to see the new films bridge the gap between urban and semi-urban or rural audience? I’d like to give the entire credit for this to Rituporno Ghosh. He kicked off the change with Unishey April, and then, though slowly, others followed suit. I am very proud that we could bring back that section of Bengali moviegoers to theatres who prefer to watch thikthak (proper) films.

(Read: Prosenjit will stun audiences as Lalan: Gautam Ghosh)


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