Audience's love is my real award: Prosenjit Chatterjee

After ruling the Bengali film industry for over three decades, superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee has now settled for experimental films and likes to reinvent himself as an actor with every failure. In a chat with CT, the actor tells us what awards mean to him, gives a sneak peek into his upcoming movie, describes his efforts towards uniting the film industries of India and Bangladesh and reveals his plans to pay tribute to Uttam Kumar.Excerpts:
Everyone expected you to win the National Award for Goutam Ghose's Moner Manush but that did not happen.
(After a pause) I know there were high expectations from every corner that I will win the National Award for Moner Manush or Autograph. Of course, it made me sad but that doesn't stop me from putting in my 100% to every project I sign. Winning the National Award for Dosar was a thrilling experience as recognition of hard work makes everyone happy . But winning awards is not my priority while I choose to do a film.What matters is the love and appreciation I receive from my audience -both regionally and nationally . Appreciation from a director or an actor from a different region gives me a high. Soumitra Chatterjee, the stalwart of our industry , got the National Award quite late in his life... so it's okay. I will keep gifting my audience with good films and their love for me in return is my biggest award.
Do you think the selection for National Awards is fair?
I have no idea. At times there is a lot of debate on the fairness of these awards but I would like to believe that it's fair since it involves so many honourable people. I feel people should be awarded when they are in their prime as it can boost their career and not at a later stage when it may not matter as much.Dignitaries representing other regions talk a lot about their regional films but does the same happen when it comes to Bengali films? Well, I have my doubts.
Do you keep a count of the awards you win?
(Laughs) No! But I am happy that I have won West Bengal's oldest and most prestigious award -BFJ Award -seven times, which I feel is the highest. Apart from that, there are several other trophies in my house.
Goutam Ghose's Shankhachil -an Indo-Bangladesh joint venture -is up for release. As the producer of the film, what are your expectations?
Goutam Ghose's films belong to a different zone and I love to be a part of them. He has a signature style. I am not sure about how this film will do commercially but there are people who love to watch good films and they will definitely appreciate it. What matters to me is that 30 years down the line, my son will be able to proudly say that his dad was a part of Shankhachil. As the producer, it doesn't matter if I lose money . I incurred financial losses for the serial Ganner Opare but people still talk about it for its path-breaking format. As for box-office results, I am pinning my hopes on Zulfiqar and not this. For this film, we are focusing on international markets and we'll be sending it to film festivals across the globe. I want people to watch it, business comes later.
What is the film all about?
It is both physical and emotional journey of a family along the IndoBangladesh border. Bengalis across the world would relate with the issues highlighted in the film -partition, a family's battle for survival, socio-political issues and the father-daughter relation ship. The script is based on an original story by Goutam Ghose and Sayantani Pututandu. My family in the film represents Bengalis worldwide. I feel this movie is another version of Paar as both are about the fight for survival.
Tell us about your character and look in the film.
I play Badal, a school master. The film revolves around the struggles I face along with my wife and daughter.Some of my close ones failed to recognise me in clips of the movie as I had to adopt a completely new avatar for playing the character. This is my answer to all those who wondered why my weight was constantly fluctuating.
Your last two films didn't do well at the box office. Does that make you jittery?
When a film doesn't do well at the box office or live up to my expectation, I take it as a challenge and try to reinvent myself as an actor with the next one. I was in a safe zone 15 years back when I used to romance on screen, play lead in action films and did emotional scenes as well. But now, I am into experimental films and a lot of calculation goes on before I sign on the dotted lines.
So, at this point of your career, what matters more -critical acclaim, box office collection or mental satisfaction?
Mental satisfaction as well as critical acclaim.
There's a huge demand for Tollywood films in Bangladesh. You, along with Goutam Ghose, have made huge efforts in this regard.
So many Indo-Bangladesh films are being made now but I feel sad that no one acknowledges my efforts in this direction. It was Goutamda and me who first took the initiative to bring together the film industries of both the countries. We will not grow as an industry if these two markets don't converge. Shibu (Shiboprosad Mukherjee) is trying to release Prakton in Bangladesh and India on the same day . The more, the merrier.Cutting down on the budget, talent exposure, revamping single-screen theatres, introducing new faces and creating one market are some of the steps that can save the industry from meeting its doom.
You play Uttam Kumar in the upcoming teleseries Mahanayak. Don't you feel comparisons are inevitable?
First of all, Mahanayak is not a biopic on the legend (Uttam Kumar). It is a work of fiction inspired by his life and we are going to pay tribute to him through this. People feel I am the only actor who can play this role. I have known him for long and also observed him from close quarters, which helped me do justice to this role.