Tapas Paul faces camera again for a short film

Kolkata: The two-time Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Paul, who had wanted to seek refuge in acting after being released on bail in February, is finally staging a comeback. On Sunday, Paul will begin shooting for Debaditya Bandopadhyay’s short film titled “Du Taka” starring Krishnakishore Mukherjee, Nimai Ghosh and Soma Chakraborty.Paul, the two-time Trinamool Congress MP from Krishnagar, was arrested on December 30, 2016 by the CBI in connection with his alleged involvement in the Rs 17,000-crore Rose Valley ponzi scam. In February this year, the Orissa High Court granted bail to Paul.Paul had earlier worked with Bandopadhyay in “8.08 er Bongaon Local” – the 2012 film that was partially based on the Rajib Das murder case in Barasat. Four days back, Bandopadhyay met Paul and pitched a short film about a good man being trapped by evil colleagues. Said Paul, “I have always said that I am an actor and want to return to movies. Debaditya has very nice concepts and has clarity of thought. When I heard his concept, I readily agreed to be a part of it.”The director is, of course, happy that Paul has accepted his offer. “I have offered him a role of a character called Pabitra Dutta. He is a simpleton who works in an office. Some of his colleagues get involved in a fraud and manipulate the situation. They flee from there leaving him in the lurch,” the director said, adding that they have ordered thick “Horlicks” glasses for Paul’s character in the film produced by Balai Dey. “His character looks a little flabby and we are working on his looks,” he added.Working in a short film is a new experience for the actor. “However, I have watched short films before,” he said. So enthused is Paul with the offer that he cancelled a trip to Mumbai to make way for the shooting. “I have not been keeping well and need to get a checkup done at the Lilavati Hospital. Since this is a short film and requires me to shoot for two days, I could change my schedule to shoot this before going to Mumbai. Had it been a lengthy schedule of 10-15 days, I would have had to prioritise my hospital visit,” Paul said.However, Paul is open to more acting offers in future. “Doctors have asked me to not run around much. As long as there isn’t much of a physical strain, I have no problems shooting indoors or outdoors,” he said.There was a time when Paul had harboured dreams of turning a director. Does he still want to do that? The actor smiles on being reminded of that dream. “A lot has happened after I had said that. As of now, it is acting,” he said.Among his co-actors, Trinamool Congress MP Satabdi Ray had stood by him during his tough times. Trinamool Congress MLA Chiranjeet had said: “Tapas is an extremely good actor. I can never perform the role he did in ‘Saheb’,” Chiranjeet had told TOI in February.Paul is happy to hear such praise from Chiranjeet. “I am glad that he assessed me on the basis of talent,” Paul added.So, is acting alone going to keep him busy? Is it goodbye to politics? Paul doesn’t want to answer questions on politics now. “Let’s talk only about this project. Debaditya is a fine director and I am looking forward to work with him again. When he made ‘8.08 er Bongaon Local’, I felt it was a film that should have run. Unfortunately, it didn’t,” he said. Paul, however, doesn’t wish to blame the audience for not warming up to that film. All he is hoping is that they do so now that he is staging a comeback with his short film.