Nitish Roy: Just kidding with ghosts

Children���������s cinema, which was once a popular genre among film-makers in Bengal, has not been a favourite with contemporary makers.
Few such movies have been made in recent times and fewer still have managed to break even at the box-office. However, ace art director Nitish Roy, who has been associated with movies like ���������Kharij���������, ���������Mandi���������, ���������New Delhi Times���������, ���������Salaam Bombay!���������, ���������Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara���������, ���������Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar���������, ���������Bride & Prejudice��������� and ���������Halla Bol���������, among others, is ready to begin shooting a Bengali children���������s movie.
Says Roy, ���������In 1995, I had first read Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay���������s ���������Gosain Bagan er Bhoot��������� and had strongly felt that a good movie could be adapted from it.I bought the film-making rights but never got down to making the movie in all these years. Recently, I was approached by producer Mou Roy Chowdhury, who suggested that I make a good children���������s film.
That���������s when I told her about this story and within a month, everything fell into place. I���������ve penned the film���������s script along with Debaditya Dutta. The cast includes Kharaj Mukherjee, Tinnu Anand, Saswata Chatterjee, Paran Bandopadhyay, Shankar Chatterjee, Subhashish Mukhopadhyay, Kanchan Mullick, Locket Chatterjee and Biswanath Basu, among others. As for the child actors, I prefer newcomers instead of the popular actors I see on television shows. Badal Sarkar will be doing the camerawork.��������� Kharaj, on his part, is excited with the offer. ���������Though I���������ve read many of Shirshenduda���������s works, I am yet to read this story. Nitishda has offered me this film and I am game. I have been fascinated with children���������s movies.
sk Roy why he has taken the risk to make a children���������s film, considering that not too many have hit the
jackpot in recent times and he says, ���������But good children���������s films haven���������t really been made in recent times. So, where���������s the question of them not becoming hits? I see no reason why good children���������s movies will not work in Bengal today.���������
As for his long hiatus from movie-making, Roy says, ���������I have directed movies in Hindi and Bengali. The last film I directed was ���������Heart Beat���������. It had music by Nachiketa but hasn���������t released yet. Today���������s Bengali film
scenario has changed and there���������s room for a lot of sensitive movie-making. I think, it���������s a good time for me to make this children���������s film now.���������
Music, Roy maintains, is very important for this film. ���������Chandrabindoo is doing the music for the film. I have a feeling that they have done such good work and the songs will create a similar impact as the ones from ���������Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne���������,��������� the director insists. Anindya, frontman, Chandrabindoo, is extremely excited with the project. Says Anindya, ���������Nitishda is a veteran and has been associated with such great projects. The music of ���������GGBB��������� has reached cult status. I am not going into any comparisons there. But, yes, Nitishda has liked the music that we���������ve done. We haven���������t yet started the casting for the songs but will be doing it soon. Through his writing, Shirshenduda creates a wonder world. It will be interesting for us to recreate that through music. We are planning to use a lot of different voices and acoustic instruments to create a new sound. As we had done for the music of ���������033���������, we also plan to tap new talents alongside veterans.���������
While shooting for the film will begin in Bolpur from June 9, the music recording should start anytime this month.
I had written the script for ���������Lal-Kalo��������� and am presently working on a CD where I will be narrating 20 stories of Sukumar Ray���������s Pagla Dasu,��������� Kharaj says.