Prosenjit Chatterjee: Interesting facts about the Tollywood superstar

Son of veteran actor Biswajit Chatterjee, Prosenjit is one of the famous figures in Bengali cinema. His journey began over three decades ago as a child artiste in ‘Chotto Jigyasa’ and years later, he followed it with his unforgettable role in Vijeta Pandit's record-breaking romantic drama ‘Amar Sangi’. The star is one of the most awarded artists, with numerous honours in the best actor category. He is also one of the very few Bengali actors who has successfully stepped into several genres ranging from action, comedy, romance and drama. Here are some interesting and lesser known facts about the celebrated actor.

Prosenjit Chatterjee was a passionate drummer. You'd be surprised that at age 12, he became an integral part of a boy band Toofan Melody. Years later, he still likes to listen to music in his free time. He revealed that he generally prefers soothing Bengali music, but doesn’t mind other genres as well.

There is a documentary on Prosenjit directed by Mitali Ghoshal and Samrat. Titled ‘For Cinema Only’, it was shown at the 23rd Kolkata International Film Festival in 2017. The documentary highlights the growth of the popular actor and his struggles to make a name for himself. It also gives a sneak peak on how he single-handedly saved the Bengali film industry during its lul period. The documentary includes interviews of eminent personalities like Sourav Ganguly, Rituparna Sengupta, Srijit Mukherji, Rachana Banerjee, Pallavi Chatterjee, Juhi Chawla and many others.

Everybody in the industry knows how close Rituparno Ghosh was to Prosenjit. In fact, few of Rituparno’s films became a turning point in the actor’s life. The late filmmaker was a friend, philosopher and guide to the young actor and even did his makeup when the actor tied the knot with Arpita Pal. Even today, Prosenjit has numerous portraits of Rituparno hanging on the walls of his production house Nideas.

It’s quite rare for regional film actors to turn down an offer from Bollywood. But, very few people know that Prosenjit once rejected offers to star in Bollywood superhits like ‘Saajan’ and ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’. However, he made his debut in Hindi cinema with David Dhawan’s ‘Andhiyan’ in 1990. He did a cameo in Dibakar Banerjee’s political thriller ‘Shanghai’ and will soon be seen in the upcoming film ‘3 Dev’.

Tollywood superstar Prosenjit started his acting career as a child actor in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s ‘Chotto Jigyasa’ (1968), for which he won the Bengali Film Journalist’s Association – Most Outstanding Work of the Year Award. Interestingly he was cast in this film as Bumba which is his pet name and he also had his father Biswajit Chatterjee playing his on-screen dad. After ‘Chotto Jigyasa’ he appeared in several other films as a child star.

The Tollywood superstar believes Kamaleswar Mukherjee’s ‘Khawto’ is his boldest movie to date. The film is an erotic thriller which follows a novelist Nirbed Lahiri. The writer deals with erotic thrillers and interestingly enjoys a complex, bizarre relationship with a lady who becomes his muse. The film, featuring Prosenjit Chatterjee, Paoli Dam and Raima Sen, is regarded as one of the industry's first ventures into the Bengali erotic fantasy genre.

To go deep into Lalon Fakir’s character for Gautam Ghose’s national award-winning 'Moner Manush' (2010), the popular actor used to lock himself in a dark room, sleep on the floor and even became a vegetarian to get under the skin of his famous fakir character. Prosenjit generated accolades for his outstanding portrayal of Lalan Fakir, a legendary spiritual leader, poet and ‘Baul’ of the 19th century. The biographical musical drama also features Paoli Dam in the lead. It received the Nargis Dutt Award for the Best Film on National Integration and was also awarded the Best Film at the 41st International Film Festival of India.