Can't expect Pushpa's response or budget for Bengali cinema, says OG Bob Biswas Saswata Chatterjee
India Today
"Forget the budget, I can't even expect to have the same amenities here in Kolkata. So it will be unfair to expect those results," says Saswata about the humongous success of Allu Arjun's Pushpa. However, good content always works, he adds.
Bengali actor Saswata Chatterjee's film, 8/12 Binay Badal Dinesh, was released in theatres on January 26. He is seen in the role of Hemchandra Ghosh, and the film shows the lesser-known stories of freedom fighters Binay Bose, Badal Gupta and Dinesh Chandra Gupta. Now, bringing the audience back to the theatres is a struggle these days, owing to the Covid-19 situation in the country. And Saswata, who the rest of the country remembers as the beloved Bob Biswas from Vidya Balan's Kahaani, agrees. However, he adds that that's not the case for films like Spider-Man: No Way Home or even the homegrown Pushpa: The Rise, starring Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandanna.
In an exclusive interview with AajTak Bangla, he opened up about how that can be battled in an industry like Tollywood.
When asked to comment about the struggles of getting the audience back to the theatres, Saswata Chatterjee says that that's not the case with films like Spider-Man or Pushpa. In the same breath, he adds that that means Bengali filmmakers have to rethink their strategy and approach. But Saswata also admits that the scale and budget at which films like Pushpa or Spider-Man are made cannot be replicated in Tollywood. "Forget the budget, I can't even expect to have the same amenities here in Kolkata. So it will be unfair to expect those results," Saswata adds.
The solution, according to Saswata is creating strong, engaging content. He believes the audience, at the end of the day, responds to just that.
Watch the full interview here:
Saswata has successfully ventured into Bollywood for a while now, and apart from Kahaani, we have also seen him in films like Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif's Jagga Jasoos and Sushant Singh Rajput's Dil Bechara. So is Hindi cinema his focus now? Saswata admits it is. "It would be foolish to reject some of the stuff I am being offered. They are that good. But having said that, I won't accept everything, and that's a strategy I follow in Bengali cinema as well. The idea is to do good, challenging stuff but not reach a point of saturation as an actor," he adds.
Saswata has a busy few months ahead - he will be travelling for work for the whole of February and the rest of the year. But, he has no complaints. He is happy to be on his feet after spending the whole of the year 2020 and a better part of 2021 stuck at home like the rest of us.
