‘I’ve rejected four of Rituparno’s films’

His last release was Bhoothnath. Priyanshu Chatterjee has been lying low since then with sparse interviews, no public appearances and no releases.
Now, with Ashoke Vishwanathan���s Diamond Murders, based on Arthur Conan Doyle���s The Sign of Four, the actor hopes to bounce back. Priyanshu, who���s otherwise not a big Doyle fan, plays famed sleuth Sherlock Holmes���s man Friday, Dr Watson, in the film.���But the character is called Dr Arvind Rao ��� a doctor by profession, but fascinated by the world of crime. He���s friends with Rajit Kapoor, who plays Holmes. When he���s approached for this case, Arvind gets a peek into the world of crime,��� reveals Priyanshu.
Having grown up on a staple diet of Ken Follet and Robert Ludlum, he says, ���I���d read Doyle once in a while. But this film made me pick up 4-5 of his books. The Sign of Four is a brilliant story. It���s already been made into a film in the UK, which I haven���t seen.���
His other release this year is Chintuji, a satire. ���It���s set in a Utopian sort of a town. Rishi Kapoor plays himself in the play. The lives of locals change when he arrives there, bringing all the evils of the city with him. There���s also a romantic track in the film,��� he states, adding, ���There���s also a big banner film, in which I play the central character. I���m banking on it. I���ve two other films with Bobby Bedi and a few Bengali films.���
As for Rituparno Ghosh���s Nouka Dubi, which he was a part of, Priyanshu says, ���Ritu and I didn���t see eye to eye on certain things; the dates didn���t match. I���ve rejected four of Ritu���s films due to of date issues. I chose projects in Mumbai over them as his projects were regional films with not much money.���
And he stands by his choices despite some of them not faring well at the BO. ���They helped me as an actor and seemed fine at the script level. There weren���t many options that came my way after Tum Bin. Yet people started expecting too much from me after that film. But, I���m an outsider here. There are lots of variables that come into play in the industry, like attending parties and dating actresses. When you don���t indulge in all this, you tend to get affected in some way,��� admits Priyanshu.
Have there been moments in the last eight years when he questioned his decision of being in films? ���No. Acting is a sport to me, I enjoy being in the ring and playing it. It took me a while to figure out this road. It takes time for the dust to settle. And by dust, I mean people clouding your mind by giving wrong information and your expectations and excitement of being in the industry. Now, the road is clearly in my view,��� he says.