An Exclusive Interaction With Big B At Hotel Novatel In Juhu During The Promotional Event Of TE3N
Big B is an institution in himself, an epitome of unparalleled histrionics. Even after having crossed more than 70 summers of his life, he is still full of youth fullness coupled with an unmatched dynamic energy. He is also an active participant on the social media platform with millions of followers on Twitter itself. SHAHEEN RAAJ caught up with him for an exclusive tete – e – tete during his hectic schedule of promoting TE3N at Hotel Novatel. Tune in for an interesting conversation.
Q. Right at the outset how about giving us a brief insight of your characterised role in TE3N?
A. You are right gentleman! My role in TE3N is indeed characterised like me, even John Biswas has crossed more than 70 summers of his life just like me. And there ends the comparison. Actually speaking he does not have a baritone voice like me. In fact he is a middle class retired bureaucrat, who lives with his aged wife Mrs. Biswas in a middle class surrounding. Besides he is not aggressive or a go getter. You can call him a weak looking individual, as far as his features are concerned, he always has this exasperated look on his face.
Q. Please continue Sir!
A. When the film TE3N’s scripted scenario opens, John Biswas is shown as a person gripped with a personal & humane tragedy that has recently happened in his life. And above all the pain & suffering he is just anxious to know the truth about the incident that has occurred in his life and tries in his own way to solve the mysterious happening. Believe it or not but the character of John Biswas has been shaped up in such a way that he speaks very softly; that apart he is a tepid & too insecure kind of a person who does not at all wish to challenge anyone. I have purposely kept the character low key to increase its impact on the cine goers. So my characterised role in TE3N is in sharp contrast to the aggressive person’s role who fights for justice which I have portrayed in countless number of films on the celluloid silver screen.
Q. You have enacted the role of a grandfather in countless number of films and now in TE3N. So what’s the difference?
A. At this age I am surely going to get only matured roles like that of an aged father or a grandfather. But everytime I enact such a role. Its the script writer’s presentation & the director’s executed treatment that makes the whole lot of difference. And to top it I add my own nuances, with a perfect change of mannerisms & body language. The latest examples are my well executed roles in Piku & now in TE3N.
Q. So what according to you is the USP of TE3N?
A. You may find it slightly strange but as per me, my moving about on a unique scooter in the city of Kolkatta is the main USP of the film. And this scooter ride became so popular that its owner was offered one crore rupees for his scooter. Now its an altogether a different matter that he refused the offer. I had a ride on many vehicles earlier. But the ride on this scooter will always remain special for me. And of course I have dabbled with a lot of football game too. That apart the undercurrent mysterious elements can be termed as an extraordinary USP of TE3N.
Q. So what exactly is your latest film TE3N all about?
A. TE3N involves big production houses like Endemol, Reliance Entertainment, Cinemaa, Kross Pictures & Blue Waters Motion Pictures. It is an emotional thriller set in Kolkata. TE3N is about a crime that affects its 3 principal characters. John Biswas, a grandfather on the relentless pursuit of justice since 8 years, Father Martin Das, the role enacted by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, whose life has changed forever by the same crime that claimed the life of John’s granddaughter. Then there is Sarita Sarkar, a special role played by Vidya Balan, the cop who swings into action when an identical crime is repeated 8 years later. So TE3N is the emotionally explosive journey of these 3 above mentioned people, who find their fates intertwined in their quest for justice & redemption. It has an excellent creative team comprising of creative producer Sujoy Ghosh, director Vibhu Dasgupta, scriptwriters Suresh Nair & Bijesh Jayarajan, dialogue writer Ritesh Shah, cinematographer Tushar Kanti Ray, music composer Clinton Cerejo & action director Sham Kaushal.
Q. How & by whom was the idea of TE3N conceptualised?
A. To be very frank it was Sujoy Ghosh who came up with a brilliant idea of making a film based in Kerala. Then one day he & Vibhu Dasgupta told me that they had acquired the rights of a Korean film. The moment they narrated it, I felt that it was the right idea to develop into a film. It was initially planned to set the film against the backdrop of Goa but they had problems with permissions. That’s when I suggested Kolkata and they were very excited about it. However since the character was a Goan Christian and had an Anglo connect to it, they changed it to an English character living in Kolkata, except that he does not have the typical nuances of a typical Anglo -Bengali. Post the release of Piku, it was decided that I should not end up sounding like another Bengali. Also, we discovered that the Anglo – Bengalis there are like any other normal Hindi speaking guys.
Q. The movie TE3N has been shot on the actual locations without making any use of constructed sets. How come?
A. Yes! That’s right. The whole film is shot on the actual locations in Kolkata, there are no sets constructed at all, which I would say is an accomplishment of some kind by our cinematographer, Tushar Kanti Ray. There was a time when we would be surrounded by piercing heavy lights & big sharp reflectors, which barely allowed us to open our eyes. It is quite different to be in an environment where you don’t see lights at all but that is what technology has done today. This can also be termed as one of the novel features of TE3N.
Q. And what would you like to say about the novel marketing & promotional strategy used for TE3N?
A. Actually speaking TE3N is not a very big budget film. It does not have big stars and I felt it was futile trying to go overboard with the marketing of the film. For a film like TE3N, you can’t be spending crores of rupees on the marketing of the film, knowing that it is budgeted at a modest Rs 15 – Rs 18 crores. That’s why I felt that the best option was to involve the audiences and get their point of view instead of wasting so much money on the marketing. And the reactions were a bag full of praises & criticism too but you have to understand that in our times, films used to be silver jubilee or golden jubilee hits. Today they run only for 3 days and your money is recovered. If you see a Shah Rukh Khan or a Salman Khan starrer, the budgets run into several crores of rupees. For them it is the 1st 3 day collections that make the film a viable profit model and they require that kind of marketing. The attention span of this generation is very short, they want quick results and it becomes necessary to have aggressive marketing strategies.
Q. What would you like to say about your creative producer Sujay Ghosh & director Vibhu Dasgupta?
A. Both of them are very creative, hardworking & extremely talented and I am really honoured that even at my age they have come up with a very challenging role for me in a well crafted film like TE3N.
Q. Kolkatta seems to be your favourite destination in all aspects & respects. What say?
A. What to say? My 1st job in life was in Kolkata in the year 1962. I had spent almost a year working as an executive here. There’s a very large Anglo – Indian community that resides here and I used to mix up regularly with them because that was part of our existence. I was also connected to the amateur theatre here and the theatre groups had Anglo – Indians too. We were all friends so I was aware of the way they spoke & conducted themselves. Yes it is my favourite destination in all aspects & respects and so I keep coming back to Kolkatta.
Q. What would you like to say about the techno savvy younger generation of director & actors too?
A. I have worked with eminent directors in the earlier phase of my career and now that I am working with the techno savvy younger generation of directors I am learning something new from them each & every day that I work with them. The best part of working with the younger generation of directors today is that they are aware of technology and know how best to tap it. Today the audience taste have changed and they demand something that is slicker and technically more brilliant because they have an opportunity to see all that on television, internet & mobiles too. In that respect, these young film makers are very much focussed. They are aware of the competition and the fact that their content has to be up to the mark. They keep improvising on the technology in order to get outstanding results. Also the talent available is absolutely remarkable. I am stunned at times to see how perfect some of these actors are in their debut outing too. They know where they want to go and provide such amazing outputs. To the extent that I sometimes feel odd to go on the sets when I see these thoroughly prepared actors, but it’s a great joy too. I love being with them, seeing them work and their approach to work. They are very normal & natural in front of the camera. They are quite cool and are perfect in their work too. While content & technology matter a lot these days, funding of films is hardly a problem today, unlike olden days where film makers had to go through a long drawn process for the funding of their films. One of the reasons stars used to take up multiple projects during those days was due to the problems of funding & finance. Those days film makers had to borrow funds and they would get money from the financier to shoot for a week, after which they would show the canned portions to the financier in the hope of getting some more funds. That’s the reason why we used to work in a dozen films and shuttle from one set to another every day because we couldn’t wait till the next finance would come, lest we would be sitting for a long time without work. That problem fortunately does not exist today.
Q. Are there any nostalgic moments that you keep dwelling upon?
A. There are many nostalgic moments in my life that I keep dwelling upon. But in my profession I feel deeply about the sad truth that despite having some of the best film makers in the history of cinema, we have never quite gone out and documented their works. For instance, one would have loved to sit with legendary film makers like K. Asif, Guru Dutt & Raj Kapoor to find out what went on behind the making of some of their best films, how they chose particular camera angles, what was the atmosphere like on their sets and how they coined some of the best dialogues for their films. We only go & look at the films, we have never ever sat with those people and asked them. I hope we seriously start doing something on this front, so that it will be a treasure house of information for film makers in the future.
Q. As a parting shot what would you like to say about your regular social media connect with your fans?
A. Previously we used to wait for fan letters to get reactions. We had fewer opportunities to interact with our fans and the only connect we had with them was when we got a fan mail or went out to public functions. With social media, we have opened the doors to millions & millions of people to interact, talk to them and get a feedback. In my case, it started with a blog when someone came up with a suggestion that I should have an official website of my own, since there were a lot of other illegal sites running under my name. I was told that it would take a period of many months but I was very keen to start something the very next day. That’s how the idea of writing a blog came up. It started with jotting down a few of my thoughts for which I received a great feedback after which I started blogging every day to an extent where people from every region began to keep in touch, interacting and giving their point of view on everything I wrote about. I later gave them the name of my “Extended Family.” I now get 1000’s of responses from my “Extended Family” in India and all over the globe and even from Mumbai to London. They keep in touch with each other too, travel to each other’s towns and even meet me when they come down to Mumbai. It is truly a big family. I started my Facebook & Twitter account soon after. Now I make it a point to tweet every day about something that I strongly feel about. I have been doing so without a break, even when I was in hospital. I know at least 1000’s of my social media followers on a personal level. I think a good deal of my social media friends who are an amazing lot of cinema savvy people and some of them give some great feedback about my films. Their remarks and some of the things that they write are beyond comprehension. There are some brilliant minds out there who look at a film. They even criticise films objectively but their criticism is different from the regular critics. They also offer a comprehensive analysis on why a particular film scored well at the Box Office. I remember Rituji (Nanda), the daughter of Raj Kapoor and also the mother – in – law of my daughter, Shweta, brought out a book on Raj Kapoor, years ago and wanted to update it. I thought about it and was in touch with several other people, who were perceptive about several aspects of Rajji’s life, including his films, politics or entertainment. I had a discussion with them through the blog and they came out with an analysis on him, which I had never quite figured out. I sent this across and they were absolutely delighted. And I can go on & on about my social media interaction with my fans and even reams & reams of papier mache would be in suffice to recount them all.
