Bollywood’s ‘oh so precious’ Bong connection

What’s common between Jisshu Sengupta, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Saswata Chatterjee, Raima Sen, Tota Roy Choudhury, Swastika Mukherjee and Paoli Dam? All of them are a part of the bandwagon that’s representing the exquisite talent of Bengali cinema on the national level. These actors are slowly but steadily leaving behind a legacy that we all want to cherish. At present, there’s an increasing demand in both Bollywood and South for actors who have a sizeable amount of work experience in Bengali films.

Be it raw talent, sere professionalism, performing under any kind of pressure and willingness for experimentation – all these factors are adding to the clamour. Considering the national scenario, their acceptance may now be increasing each day, but actors from Bengal are doing their exceptional work over the last ten years or so away from limelight.

With their happening careers in Kolkata, many actors from Tollywood don’t want to rush in signing Hindi projects. Saswata Chatterjee is one of them who has turned down quite a few Bollywood offers because of his prior commitments in Kolkata. His next Hindi projects include Rajkumar Santoshi’s Bad Boy, Anurag Kashyap’s Dobaara and the Kangana Ranaut starrer ‘Dhaakad’.

Jisshu Sengupta has been working across several industries and is all praise for the professionalism he has seen down south. “Working in south is an eye-opener. The way they show their respect to every member of the unit is just amazing. We all should learn from them. The respect Telugu film industry shows to artists is unbelievable. They are also highly organised as an industry. The kind of paperwork and planning they chalk out is great. They churn out massive films like Bahubali, at the same time the medium-budget films receive equal love,” shares the actor whose acts in ‘Barfi!’, ‘Mardaani’, ‘Piku’, ‘Manikarnika’, ‘Shakuntala Devi’, ‘Sadak 2’, ‘Durgamati’, ‘Typewriter’ have earned him critical acclaim.

Meanwhile, Parambrata says working with films under the banner of Anushka Sharma’s production house is one of his best experiences on the national level. “It has been quite enjoyable, in the two projects (Pari and Bulbbul) that I was part of. Recently, I have worked with Akarsh Khurana and it’s again an experience to remember. Aranyak (co-starring Raveena Tandon) was also a notable experience. Most of the times, the experience has been rather satisfying.”

For Tota Roy Choudhury whose has been part of films beyond Mumbai, individuality comes with a larger impact. “Many of us from Bengal are getting roles on national level because we all deliver a particular individuality. Most actors in Mumbai these days end up preferring the same stylist, they workout at same gyms, they hang out at the same spots and eventually they all start looking the same unknowingly. But, here it’s different. We, the actors here, won’t behave, look, speak or act just like the ones in Mumbai. So, directors can find the characters within us,” adds the actor who has also done ‘Kahaani 2’ and ‘Indu Sarkar’.

Not only the role and script, Tota believes a good director also plays an important role. “I discuss with the director first and only then think about whether I will do the project or not. That person must show empathy and good manners. An encouraging director who has the right amount of patience can see the potential of an actor and extract the performance he or she wants,” says the actor who has also acted opposite a big name like Kajol in ‘Helicopter Eela’ and was recently seen in Parineeti Chopra starrer ‘The Girl On The Train’.

For Swastika Mukherjee, a Hindi project comes with an opportunity to explore characters that are not restricted to typical demographic or psychographic factors now. “I have played quite a few experimental characters in Bengali cinema, but you have to understand the look and feel of these characters are majorly Bengali. Whereas in Hindi, you are playing a character from any part of the country. It comes with more space to explore and grow as an actor,” said Swastika who has delivered some spectacular performances in ‘Paatal Lok’, ‘Dil Bechara’, ‘Black Widows’ to name a few.

According to Paoli Dam, the most sought-after actors on OTT these days with terrific performances in ‘Bulbbul’, ‘Kaali’, ‘Raat Baaki Hai’, 'The Great Indian Murder', the regional actors, more specifically those from Bengal, have become popular due to the variety and versatility they offer. “There is a huge acceptance for pan-India shows now, unlike the previous monopoly of ‘Bollywood’ shows. A pan-India show often casts actors from different parts of the country. For instance, Pratik Gandhi has been a well-known Gujarati actor for all these years, but now he’s become a national face after his terrific performance in Scam 1992. Plus, the wide range of actors, their accents, individual mannerisms have brought in the much-needed boost in content,” explains Paoli while speaking to ETimes.