Tollywood abuzz with child actors

Small in size but big in impact. A handful of child actors are taking a break from play from guns, ride on toys, barbies and even cartoons to make a splash on playground Tollywood
Arpan Ghosh
By a curious stroke of luck, eight-year-old Arpan Ghosh was roped in for megaserial 'Khona' the day his mom submitted his profile shots to a production unit at Indrapuri Studio.Soon, offers started pouring in by the dozens and 'Dadamoni', 'Alor Basa', 'Ami Sei Meye', happened in no time. The small steps transformed into big strides what with Ravi Kinagi casting him in '100% Love' and 'Awara'.
���Shooting with Jeetda was so much fun. I remember in the midst of a scene, he pinched me. I couldn���t shout as that would have irked Ravi uncle. But once the shot got over, I pinched him back. What���s more, I put ants in his shirt!��� he says with an impish grin. Arpan, whose fanbase is growing by the day, however, doesn���t want to grow up to be an actor. ���I want to be an engineer,��� is all that he offers. Engineering dreams, that���s Arpan for you.
Tojo Ganguly
���Burun tumi onke tero,��� was how Burun aka Tojo Ganguly would be famously referred to in Gosaibaganer Bhoot. But in real life, the mention of maths doesn���t spook him up. He���s rather good with it. And his baby steps in Tollywood too have been well-calculated. With actor Debleena Dutta, a family friend, serving as an inspiration, Tojo started off in the industry when he was still in lower KG. With serials like 'Sanai', 'Rani Kahini' and 'Raja Goja' happening back to back, Tojo became a household name. But the 12-year-old gives credit to his big leap in popularity to the Nitish Roy film.
���Recently, I went to Puri with my family for a holiday and trust me, I got mobbed on the beach. I was tired fielding all the questions that people threw at me. What���s more, they kept pulling my cheeks! But yes, it was quite an experience,��� says Tojo, breaking into a coy smile. So, what interests him apart from acting? ���Cricket and table tennis. Acting is my first love, but sports is something I���m ready to give an arm for. No Sunday is complete without me playing para cricket,��� smiles Tojo. And there���s no batting an eyelid even when he is hitting sixers on screen.
Asmee Ghosh
The 'Shuorani of Thakurmar Jhuli' was enough to hold her captive. And then came 'Duorani', a megaserial. Asmee Ghosh, still in Class I, took a break from playing with her dolls, and dolled up instead for her stint on TV. That���s not all. Her first silver screen outing happened with none other than the Tollywood Lion ��� Prosenjit Chatterjee. Playing Bumba uncle���s daughter in 'Bikram Singha ��� The Lion is Back', has been quite a high for this nine-year-old.
���For my first shot in BS, I had to be locked inside a box for five minutes. Rajib uncle (director) and Bumba uncle were very careful, so that I didn���t get a breathing problem. Still, it was dark out there and that left me very scared. I was so relieved once the shot got over,��� recalls the li���l girl with a lot of pride. So, what excites the child apart from acting? ���Good food,��� she says, adding,���We shot in Hyderabad and Kannur for days on end, where I had to survive on South Indian cuisine. It was horrible. I prefer to eat biryani and kebabs.��� Yummy Asmee is quite a delight!
Riddhi Sen
Like father, like son. When others his age would build their own world with play guns and ride-on toys, Riddhi Sen would get play-ful, albeit differently. Born to a family of actors, Riddhi and theatre are joined at the hip. All of three-and-a-half, he started acting in his father, Kaushik Sen���s theatre group ��� Swapnasandhani ��� and ever since then, chasing big dreams has been part and parcel of the boy���s daily routine. The 15-year-old is now a hero in school after his big tryst with celluloid. As Poltu in Sujoy Ghosh���s 'Kahaani', he won many hearts. And like the tea he would sell in the film, his popularity too is brewing.
���The film has earned me a great deal of attention from cute girls in my school. My parents keep teasing me about this,��� he gushes. But guess who the queen of his li���l heart is? Vidya mashi! ���Sujoy kakuis very funny and would often crack jokes on the sets. But, it was Vidya mashi who touched our hearts. She is a great mimic and in between shots, she would emulate everybody. We would roll on the floor in laughter. She would also insist that we eat fruits and enough water and check if we were carrying out her instructions,��� recalls Riddhi, who is all set to write his own kahaani in tinselville.
Rwitobroto Mukherjee
So what if his real name doesn���t ring a bell? He is already giving actors double his size a run for their money. Rwitobroto Mukherjee aka ���running water��� in 'Kahaani' is the son of actor Shantilal Mukherjee and what���s more, he wants to grow up to be a Tolly baddie just like his father.
���I don���t like girls and they too don���t give me patta because I���m way too short. So, wooing pretty heroines on screen is not up my street. On a serious note, I feel you need a lot of calibre to portray negative roles,��� he says thoughtfully. But right now, Rwitobroto���s li���l mind is filled with Kahaani. ���Vidya didi and Sujoy kaku would often pick up fights. They wouldn���t spare us and there would be pranks in plenty. But Sujoy kaku is a perfectionist. I still remember giving 27 takes for a shot. Vidya didi and Sujoy kakualso celebrated my birthday on the sets. Despite being a star, Vidya didi is so down to earth,��� he remembers. To the uninitiated, the 13-year-old also has his own theatre group, Natto-ten-ment, and is currently busy readying his production, Debota.com. Oh-so-divine!
Soham Maitra
When he should have been flying kites with his playmates, little Soham Maitra did 'Ghuri', a film by Riingo. Though the flick, in which he had a double role, didn���t get released, the child got noticed and that earned him another offer ��� 'Chaplin'. Soham���s Nimua act fetched the film praises galore and the Class VII student is now gearing up for more such performances on his new-found playground ��� Tollywood. Soham, who never got snubbed by Anindya kaku (director Anindya Banerjee), even after making mistakes, however, can���t stop waxing eloquent about co-star Mir kaku.
���With Mir kaku around, it was always less work and more fun,��� he says. So, what keeps Soham going? ���My elder sister-cum-best pal Anwesha���s enthusiasm,��� pat comes the reply. And his next? Pakaram, directed by Shankar Debnath. ���My character, Tapu, is a dreamer,��� he fills us in. And are there real-life similarities? ���There are. Just that my mother always spoils my dreams by waking me up in the mornings for school!��� Aren���t chweet dreams made of these?
Compiled by Ruman Ganguly and Madhushree Ghosh