JUBILEE STAR

PROSENJIT CHATTERJEE LOOKS BACK ON HIS PAST AND REFLECTS ON HIS PRESENT IN A CHAT WITH JITESH PILLAAI

- JITESH PILLAAI

There are actors.

There are stars. And then, there is Prosenjit. He's an era unto himself. Over 50 years in the business and still as relevant, as sought-after, and as quietly magnetic as ever. He began as a child artiste, in a film with none other than Hrishikesh Mukherjee, and went on to carve a journey that defies easy definitions. What's truly remarkable is the grace with which he has straddled both worlds, mainstream commercial cinema and the more meditative lanes of parallel and art-house filmmaking. You have Kaushik Ganguly, Shiboprosad Mukherjee, Nandita Roy and Srijit Mukherji on one side, and on the other, cinematic maestros like Rituparno Ghosh, Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Goutam Ghose. And in all these worlds, he is equally at home. But what stands out, more than the body of work, more than the stardom that refuses to dim, is the man himself, his humility, his curiosity, his hunger to keep reinventing. There was a Mahanayak in Calcutta called Uttam Kumar. And now, I find myself sitting in front of yet another legend, Prosenjit Chatterjee.

YOU STARTED ACTING AT SIX, AS A CHILD ARTISTE WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO THAT YOUNG BUMBA DA TODAY?

Yes, most people still call me Bumba da. It began in Kolkata and has caught on in Mumbai too. My first film, Chotto Jiggasha, happened when I was just six and a half, it was produced by my father and directed by the late Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Back then, little Bumba had no idea he'd grow up to be a hero; it all felt like play. But somewhere along the way, I realised I had to find my own identity, my own philosophy. That shift happened early, around 18 or 19, when I debuted as a lead in Duti Pata, which became a big hit.

YOU WORKED EARLY ON WITH UTTAM KUMAR AS WELL.