THE BONG CONNECTION

PARAMBRATA CHATTERJEE IS DOING ALL KINDS OF EXCITING THINGS IN BOTH BENGALI AND HINDI SPACE THIS YEAR. THE ACTOR SHARES HIS ZEAL WITH TANISHA BHATTACHARYA

-  TANISHA BHATTACHARYA

In 2012, he made his big Hindi debut alongside Vidya Balan in Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani, and the rest is history. Paramabrata has let his creativity fly over the years, becoming a director and scriptwriter as well. While his notable Bengali projects include Bhalo Theko, BaisheSrab on and Hemlock Society, his role as Topshe in Satyajit Ray's original Feluda series gave a preview of the brilliant actor that was in the making. He raises the stakes by playing Feluda in a brand-new detective series that will be released in April. Not many actors can claim to have played both an iconic character and its sidekick with equal panache. His Hindi projects, such as Aranyak, Pari, Bulbbul, Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi and Jehanabad, have captured the attention of both the filmmakers and the masses in recent years. He speaks candidly about how he has changed as a creative person over time. And how the art of storytelling has revolutionised itself, only making him want to do more work. Excerpts:

In the series Jehanabad, we see you playing a Naxal commando...

There are different sides to it. I am a Bengali from the '80s and '90s. Bengalis have different kinds of leftist movements. The radical left one that I portray in the series, then there's the constitutional left - one that has been in charge for 34 years. There have been mixed feelings about all these mixed ideologies. I don't know about today's generation, but in our generation, stories about famous leftist leaders would be handed down as urban legends or folklore. I have grown up with the stories that I want to play.

What did you find the most challenging while preparing for this role?