Bratya chooses poll over film role

Kolkata: Tourism minister Bratya Basu has refused an offer to act in his career's first international film - 'No Bed of Roses' by Bangladeshi filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki - because the shoot dates will clash with the Bengal polls.

"I had met Farooki when he was in Kolkata," said Basu. "I told him On Monday night that I wouldn't be able to act in the film. The shoot dates, in March and April, coincides with the elections."

The Bengali title of the film is 'Doob', and it will star Irrfan playing the lead. The

Bollywood

star is also a co-producer of the movie.

"I was offered the role of Irrfan's brother," Basu added.



Farooki is a member of an avant-garde filmmakers' movement in Bangladesh called Chabial. His film 'Television' was the closing film at the Busan International Film Festival. Some of his earlier films have been Bangladesh's entries to the Oscars.

The Bengali title of the film is 'Doob' and will be produced by Kolkata's Eskay Movies and Bangladesh's Jazz Multimedia.

On being asked his role, Basu said, "I was offered to play Irrfan's brother."

Farooki said his film addresses how death could also be seen as a beginning in terms of rediscovering inter-personal and intra-personal relationships. "Sometimes our physical presence might create a wall, which breaks communication. A new phase of communication might open up after death," the director said.

Irrfan, who is in Mumbai preparing for the role, said: "When I saw Mostofa's film 'Ant Story', it immediately got me interested. I was impressed with his approach, style and the way he unravels the story. His work carries a strong humane angle, which is why his characters are multi-layered. I'm looking forward to the experience."

National Award-winning makeup artist Vikram Gaekwad is working on four looks for Irrfan. "I have begun work already and have designed four looks for four different age groups and mental conditions. There isn't much use of prosthetics in these looks but they will still be visually very effective," said Gaekwad, who was last in Kolkata to set a look for star-turned-Trinamool MP Dev in Kaushik Ganguly's 'Dhumketu'.

"Farooki will begin shooting in Dhaka from March. He will also shoot at a hill station in Bangladesh," said Himanshu Dhanuka, the MD of Eskay Movies, one of the two firms which is producing the movie.

Siliguri too features on his radar as far as probable India-locations are concerned.

Acting alongside Irrfan will be Nusrat Imroz Tisha, Farooki's wife and the star of his 'Third Person Singular Number' and 'Television'. Tollywood's Parno Mittra is also acting in the film, as is Rokeya Prachy of Tareque Masud's 'The Clay Bird' fame.

The director said he has watched clippings from Parno's films. "We talked during auditions. At one point, I knew I needed her," he said. Parno plays a young girl in the movie. "The film is the story about three

women

and a man and how these women play a big role in the man's life. I have loved Irrfan's work since his 'Star Bestsellers' days. It feels good to be cast opposite him. He is one of the finest actors of India," she said.

Incidentally, producer Ashok Dhanuka is also acting in the movie. The director has already instructed him to attend weeks of acting workshops in Dhaka to prepare for his role of an office staffer. ! Incidentally, Dhanuka had recently played Vallabhbhai Patel in 'Rajkahini'. Farooki has already requested Dhanuka to attend weeks of acting workshop in Dhaka for this film. But surely, Farooki doesn't belong to the group of directors who please producers/distributors by offering them movie roles. Why then did he cast Dhanuka? "I needed a man with his look and eyes," said the director.

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