Bachchan-starrer Pink's big Bong connection

One of the much awaited films of this quarter of the year, Pink deals with a pressing issue plaguing our society -that of victim blaming. Bengalis have always had this reputation of being opinionated, and it seems like a happy coincidence that so many Bengalis are a part of this issuedriven film. Starting from the cast to the technical team, Tollywood and Bengalis dominated the making of this Amitabh Bachchan-starrer. Just ahead of its release, we talked to the Bong brigade about their experience of working in a Bollywood film that had Bengalis by the dozen collaborating on it. Turns out, it was a learning experience for them all. And, contrary to the reputation of Bengalis being a parochial lot, all of them agreed that while their Bong sensibilities did come into play, it was more the artiste inside them that was kindled. Here's what they had to say ...

SHOOJIT SIRCAR, CREATIVE PRODUCER, STORY

It's undoubtedly a huge privilege for me that I got to work with Dhritimanda and Mamata Shankar. I always wanted to reverse my gear and go back to Kolkata for my technical team, since I have observed the kind of talent Kolkata harbours, even though there's not so much exposure for them.In fact, the work for Pink is at par with international films, I can say. I have worked harder than my own directorials for this film. I gave my inputs to the camera team, the edit team... people even started calling me interfering, such was my level of involvement. But my interference was on a very democratic level and I asked every one for their inputs. Ultimately, it all came together.

ANIRUDDHA ROY CHOWDHURY, DIRECTOR

It was a conscious decision, taken by me and my producer Shoojit, to get most of the work done from Kolkata. And I am extremely happy. This is a big thing that a Hindi film's post-production, graphics, and sound designing is being done from Kolkata.And it has paid off. Anupam (Roy) has done two exceptional songs. Debu's (Debojyoti, colourist) work is on a par with anything that's happening around the country today, and Bodhadittya has done a splendid job of editing. See, you need collaboration on a huge level when making a film. Maybe not all the collaborators are talked about, but I share a very good comfort level with my technicians here, and I am definitely looking to repeat each of them in my next too. Arjun (Chakraborty) has a small role, but he has left his mark, the audience will see. And of course, there's Mamodi (Mamata Shankar). I am, in fact, planning to do a film with Mamodi and Dhritimanda (Chatterjee) in the lead.

DHRITIMAN CHATTERJEE, ACTOR

As long as a project interests me, I do not care if it's in Bengali or Hindi. I do a fair number of films, and some of them are Bollywood films. Of course, working with people, whose work you admire like Shoojit or Tony (Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury) is always a rewarding experience. As far as the interactions with Amitabh Bachchan goes, it's no different than interacting with any other talented, hard-working actor. Eleven years ago, we worked together in a film called Black. And now we did Pink. So, I was telling him, that maybe, another 10 years down the line, if we both are alive, we might do a film called White, or Green... or maybe Red (laughs).

ANUPAM ROY, MUSIC

When it comes to Bollywood, I have mostly worked with Shoojitda (Sircar). For Pink, I was not a part of the project from the beginning. Early this year, Shoojitda gave me a call, asking me to make two songs for the film. That is when we sat down and started working on the songs. By July, we were done. One of the songs -Tujhse hi hai roshni -has been penned and sung by me and the other one, the title track, has lyrics by Irshad Kamil and has been sung by Jonita Gandhi. It also has a rap portion by a young musician from Kolkata itself -EPR Iyer.

AVIK MUKHOPADHYAY, CINEMATOGRAPHER

I have worked with both Tony and Shoojit before.This time too, it was an interesting team to work with.One reason for that is that Pink is a very, very real story. It was a different kind of work, since we used multiple cameras to establish the immediacy of the scenes.Canning the courtroom scene was very challenging. I have worked with Mr Bachchan before too. It's always a great experience to work with actors of his calibre. And the fact that he is so technically sound, and he gives so much attention to the camera and the light, is very rewarding.

SHANTANU MOITRA, MUSIC

There's a history to this film that goes back to Shoojit and my school days. In college, he was into theatre and I was into music, and both of us were part of any issue that the college spoke about. We were not activists, but we would use our art as an expression of opinions. Even when we started working with Pradip Sarkar, we would often sit together and discuss, “Emon kichu ekta korte hobe, jekhane entertainment is not just about dancing.“ We always felt that entertainment should also be an intellectual stimulus. It's like, Pink is an amalgamation of that college canteen ideologies that Shoojit and I formed. It is one of the most important films to have come out in some time, and since I am from Delhi, it's very important for me. Finally, I have got an expression to say what I always wanted to.

ARJUN CHAKRABARTY, ACTOR

Mine is a very tiny role, but definitely, it's an important one. I play a friend to Andrea's (Tariang) character. The character does not really have a clear cut entry or exit point, nor does he have an individual story-line. I went to Delhi, and we shot for one day around Hauz Khas and we were done. It's my first Hindi film and it turned out to be very different from what I had anticipated. We have always heard how big and better Bollywood is. But, at the end of the day, it was a very homely atmosphere. Maybe it's because I have worked with Tonyda and Avikda before. But I must say, everything was wellplanned and super-efficient.

EPR, MUSIC

I have sung and rapped for Tollywood movies before, but this was a dif ferent kind of experience.

And knowing that it's my first Bollywood venture, where I have been a part of the title track of a movie, which features none other than Amitabh Bachchan, was like a dreamy experi ence altogether! The oppor tunity was provided to me by Anupam Roy of course and I would like to thank him for having faith in me.

DEBOJYOTI GHOSH, COLOURIST

This is my third film with Tonyda. The best part was collaborating with the Bombay unit of the film. They are so much more professional than us, I realised. From the level of planning in the initial stages to the execution, everything is so accurate, and they go after it with so much confidence. Working on Amitabh Bachchan is an altogether different experience. Getting to work on the skin colour, and the hair texture of a living legend was exhilarating.

DIPANKAR CHAKI (JOJO), SOUND

I first worked with Tonyda in Antaheen. Since then, we kept working together on and off. So, of course, the understanding was there. And what can I say about Shoojitda... He is such a fantastic human being. He took care of each and every one of us in Mumbai. And as a producer, he is very technical. He would come and tell me, `Eita, eita, eita aamar chai', and that would be it. The level of planning is unseen in Tollywood! There was Niharda (Nihar Ranjan Samal), who is very senior, and there was Biswadip (Chatterjee), both of who have the biggest Bollywood films to their credit. And I was plonked in the middle of them and asked to do the sound mixing. So, it was very challenging, but it was extremely enriching too! Everybody was giving some input or the other and we were working in perfect coordination. It definitely was an amazing experience and I am very sure people will not be able to blink while watching the film.

BODHADITTYA BANERJEE, EDIT TEAM

It was of course a fantastic experience working with Shoojit Sircar. I had the experience of working with Avik da at close quarters, which also was a very good experience. There were many known faces in the team, so even though it was a demanding job, it was fun.


— Sutapa.Singha@timesgroup.com