The Interview with Srijit Mukherjee

The Bengali movie industry’s golden boy is making his Hindi directorial debut, Begum Jaan, starring Vidya Balan and Naseeruddin Shah. By Arnesh Ghose

- Arnesh Ghose

Srijit Mukherjee has not had a single flop so far. Nine films, blockbuster hits and numerous trophies later, Mukherjee is venturing into Hindi cinema with Begum Jaan, a remake of his 2015 hit Rajkahini — a story of a brothel that sits right in the middle of the Radcliffe line during the Partition of 1947. While it will be laughable to call Mukherjee a struggling film-maker if his debut stars Vidya Balan, he knows that he does not have the same clout in Mumbai that he enjoys in Kolkata. “I can’t just pick up the phone, call up the top actors and offer them a film here. I have to keep at least 5-6 scripts ready.” So does that mean he is taking the big Bollywood plunge? “Well, like I said, I have 5-6 scripts and I have packed a few suitcases.” He smiles. I don’t know how the Bengali movie industry — and the audience — will react to that.

What was the exercise like, of remaking a film that everyone was already in love with?

See, I would like to call it an adaptation more than a remake, because I personally feel that 'remake' has a very mechanical ring to it and a remake seldom bears any original identity of its own. But Begum Jaan is a different film. It is different because the story of Rajkahini stops at 1947. Begum Jaan is linked to today’s contemporary reality of violence and hatred.

Is that something you realised after you went back to the scripting process?

Yes. Because I asked myself that whatever laurels and appreciation