Mani Ratnam is yardstick for mainstream cinema: Prosenjit

Prosenjit Chatterjee is optimistic about the way forward for Bengali cinema. The Padma Shri actor believes the subsequent two to 3 years could possibly be a ‘golden time’ for the trade, with audiences altering and mainstream cinema step by step evolving with them.

The veteran actor not too long ago watched the Jeet-starrer ‘Kew Bole Biplobi Kew Bole Dakat’ and appreciated the best way the movie brings collectively content material and commerce. For Prosenjit, that stability is important to the revival of mainstream Bengali cinema.

“The viewers is altering, and mainstream cinema has to alter with it. I’ve at all times checked out Mani Ratnam’s movies as a benchmark for mainstream cinema as a result of he manages to carry collectively commerce, leisure and mind. That form of cinema wants to come back again and I’m very hopeful that it’ll,” mentioned the ‘Autograph’ actor.

Prosenjit can be hoping for a powerful Puja season for Bengali movies. With 4 Bengali releases – ‘Desu7’, ‘Emperor Vs Sarat Chandra’, ‘Bohurupi: The Golden Daku’ and ‘The Eken: Kerala-e Kurukshetra’ – lined up this Durga Puja, he needs the trade to collectively clock not less than Rs 40 crore on the field workplace.

“Final 12 months was not a very good 12 months for Bengali movies throughout Puja. This 12 months, I genuinely hope that each one 4 movies do effectively and the enterprise ought to collectively cross Rs 40 crore. The filmmakers and producers want to face collectively. There needs to be no pointless preventing amongst us. Finally, we’re all a part of the identical trade,” he mentioned.

His attraction comes at a time when simultaneous releases through the Puja season have typically became a digital battle in Bengal. From trolling and on-line mudslinging to disagreements over display allocation, the infighting between filmmakers and producers can generally overshadow the movies themselves, hardly the message an trade would need to ship to its viewers throughout its largest festive window.

In the meantime, Prosenjit’s ‘Daktar Kaku’ has been launched in theatres. Directed by Pavel, the movie sees the actor play an trustworthy physician who refuses to compromise on his ethics or dedication to his career. His son, performed by Riddhi Sen, represents a contrasting worldview. Bold and sceptical of his father’s old-school values, he’s extra drawn to the alternatives supplied by the personal healthcare sector. The movie additionally delves into corruption within the healthcare system and scams surrounding aggressive examinations, with the latter providing an apparent up to date resonance with the NEET controversy. What makes the topic notably fascinating is that the movie was shot in 2022, a number of months after COVID-19.

The topic additionally has a private connection for Prosenjit. Although he belongs to considered one of Bengal’s best-known performing households, with legendary actor Biswajit Chatterjee as his father, drugs runs deep in his household as effectively. His grandfather, Dr Ranjit Kumar Chattopadhyay, was a famend doctor, whereas his maternal facet additionally has a number of reputed docs. Had performing not labored out for him, Prosenjit might effectively have discovered himself within the healthcare career.

Talking in regards to the rising commercialisation of healthcare, the actor acknowledges that services akin to mediclaim have an necessary function to play however believes the elemental ethos of drugs ought to stay service.

“Earlier, a household physician was virtually thought of a member of the household. I’ve additionally seen younger docs go to villages and deal with folks totally free as a result of they imagine in serving society. In fact, services like ‘Mediclaim’ are necessary and have made healthcare extra accessible in some ways. However someplace alongside the best way, we should not overlook that drugs is essentially a career of service,” mentioned Prosenjit, who has not too long ago been inducted as one of many 18 members of the Censor Board.