King of Franchises

He’s become the king of franchises, with recurring roles in Dream Girl 2, Stree 2, and Bhediya 2. “It’s both a challenge and a comfort,” says Abhishek Banerjee, whose characters swing from extreme darkness to extreme light. “After Devashish Makhija’s Ajji, though, nothing can be terrifying,” says Banerjee of the sexually deviant character he played in the 2017 film. “You have to be a soldier of his vision. After Ajji, anything dark is easy. Playing funny and light is tough, especially if you’re not feeling it.” But Banerjee spans the spectrum. Stepping into a character he has played in the past is a bit like wearing an old shoe, he says, “You know where it pinches and where it doesn’t.” Banerjee will also be seen in Karan Tejpal’s Stolen, where he plays a man who is mistaken for a child molester. “We were shooting in Pushkar and some villagers actually thought I was being lynched and tried to help me,” he says, referring to the kindness of strangers. “Equally things can be dark sometimes,” he adds, referring to an incident which took place once their car broke down on the way from Mangaluru to Goa. “Fortunately, some people recognised me and extricated me from the situation.” Banerjee, an alumnus of Delhi’s Kirori Mal College (KMC), also got an opportunity to work with another KMC alumnus Amitabh Bachchan. “We shot Section 84 together and it was one of the most learning experiences. He is always on time, always there for his co-stars, always happy to rehearse and always happy to give cues,” he says. A lot of established actors don’t do that in the industry. “You have to respect the scene,” he adds. Banerjee describes himself as a talkative person and says his idea of renewal is to go to the Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamkot. “It helps you to focus and detaches you from the hustle culture of the industry,” Banerjee adds.

Tribute to Aparna Sen

Indian documentaries are having a moment across the world, with Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes and Vinay Shukla’s While We Watched winning Peabody Awards in the documentary section. The awards will be given away on June 9 in Los Angeles. Another documentary, of a different kind, will soon be screened at film festivals abroad, Suman Ghosh’s Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen. Ghosh, who teaches Economics at the Florida Atlantic University College of Business, has directed the tribute to Aparna Sen. From the stairs Violet Stoneham climbed in 36 Chowringhee Lane to the house of Paromitar Ek Din, Ghosh takes Aparna Sen back to the scene of her cinema. Popularly known as Rinadi, Ghosh makes her talk about her full life, as an actor, director and person of conscience. He gives us not only an impeccable portrait of a truly liberated woman, but also an artist who has not stopped learning and looking. Ghosh is a worthy chronicler, a filmmaker who has made commercially successful feature films and critically appreciated documentaries.

Eye of the Cinematographer

“Song and dance has become almost like montage now in most movies,” says Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s long-time friend and cinematographer on five films, Sudeep Chatterjee. “So what he does is precious,” adds Chatterjee. There is much to celebrate in Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar for India and the West. It is peak Indian aesthetic or Eastern exotic, embodied by Bhansali. “He will even examine at length the costume of the dancers seen in silhouette. He is open to all ideas in the service of the film and doesn’t treat the script as sacrosanct,” Chatterjee says. Chatterjee first met Bhansali when the latter was shooting the songs for Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 1942: A Love Story (1994). Chatterjee was asked by Chopra to be his assistant after he saw his FTII song shot on Neena Gupta. “Vinod praised my work. He is very large-hearted. I remember Bhansali as quiet, serious. We would often share the auto back home, and he would sing,” Chatterjee says. Chatterjee was originally meant to shoot two episodes of the Netflix series but ended up shooting for 275 days on the sets at Film City. The sets were covered so all the lighting was artificial. He has just completed shooting the upcoming biographical sport drama Chandu Champion with the director Kabir Khan, and is starting work on Karan Sharma’s rom-com Bhul Chuk Maaf. “I like mixing it up. It’s a quick 35-day shoot,” says Chatterjee, who is from Kolkata and saw more of folk and traditional theatre growing up than Hindi movies.

Abhishek BanerjeeBollywoodcinemaSudeep ChatterjeeSuman Ghosh