Saswata Chatterjee: Working with Amitabh Bachchan and Naseeruddin Shah will be a dream-come-true moment

He's the toast of Tollywood today. But Saswata Chatterjee took up acting because he thought it was a paid holiday where people could travel, eat and have fun at the producer's expense. Thank God for that! Saswata’s grounding in cinema came from the fact that he is the son of Subhendu Chatterjee, undoubtedly one of the most underrated actors in Bengali cinema. The versatile actor has proved his mettle not just in Bengal but in Mumbai as well playing a wide range of characters over the past few years.

While his latest release ‘Abbar Kanchenjungha’ has received appreciation from one and all his yet another much-anticipated film ‘Tirandaj Shabor’ is set to release on May 27. Meanwhile, in Bollywood Saswata has three films lined up – Rajkumar Santoshi’s ‘Bad Boy’, Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Dobaaraa’ and Razneesh Ghai directed ‘Dhaakad’ co-starring Kangana Ranaut. He has worked with some of the big names of Bollywood. Yet, Saswata wants to share screen with two of the most respected actors in Bollywood. “It will be a dream come true moment if I get a chance to act alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Naseeruddin Shah. They are the pillars of Indian cinema and acting institution. So, I wish someday I get an opportunity to work with Mr. Bachchan and Naseeer Ji,” revealed the seasoned actor.

In Raajhorshee De’s ‘Abbar Kanchenjungha’, Saswata Chatterjee plays Arpita Chatterjee’s husband and it was a memorable experience for the actor to play such an interesting character. “I play Sumitro, who meets his wife's family at a reunion for the first time since their marriage. The reunion seemed a happy one but soon he finds out that something is not right between the family and relatives. When things seem to go out of hand, Sumitro plays Santa Claus at his wife's request. It was really interesting to transform my character with every passing frame,” shared Saswata.

“I was in college playing football and cricket in the para when Baba sat me down and asked me about my ambitions. I told him that I wanted to be an actor and he was zapped. I explained that this was the only profession where a person gets to travel to so many places and also gets paid! The producer even takes care of travel and food, so it’s actually a paid holiday, I told him. It’s then that Baba took me to Charbak, Jochhon Dastidar’s theatre group and I worked there for six years. Then I joined Biswarupa, Baba’s theatre group and my first professional experience on the stage was with him. After that I started getting serial offers and suddenly got an offer from Sandip Ray for the Feluda TV series. As Topshe I’ve acted with three Jatayus - Robi jethu, Anup jethu and Bibhu jethu,” recalls the seasoned actor.

Saswata also clarifies that directors didn’t flood him with offers because he was Subhendu Chatterjee’s son, “I had to slog to find my foothold. It’s not true that a star kid can make it to the top easily as s/he also has to show talent. But there were comparisons with Baba as he had tremendous screen presence. I score zero on that front! I never had Baba’s looks and I knew that I would have to win audiences over with my acting. Baba could never help me with acting tips as in those days we would get the scripts of TV shows after reaching the sets. I am grateful to Robi Ghosh, who used to praise me a lot. It is because of him that I got the lead role in Kalpurush, my first Hindi serial. I miss Baba a lot and wish he was here to see whatever little I have achieved today.”

The terrific actor will soon be seen in a Hindi web series inspired by British spy thriller series ‘The Night Manager’. It’s an espionage thriller and Saswata will share the screen with Anil Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sobhita Dhulipala and Tillotama Shome. ‘The Night Manager’ follows a thrilling cat and mouse chase between a covert agent and an international arms dealer. The series is expected to start streaming online by the end of this year.