Bengali audiences have a special connection with Soumitra Chatterjee: Filmmaker Suman Ghosh

Suman Ghosh, film director and a professor of economics at Florida Atlantic University, was recently in conversation with editor and film-enthusiast Shantanu Ray Chaudhury as part of a session at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival wherein he talked about his conversations with the legendary Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee, who passed away back in November 2020. Ghosh directed Chatterjee in various films spanning across a decade and a half, including Podokkhep (2006), which won the late actor his first and only National Award for Best Actor. Ghosh is also the author of the book titled ‘Soumitra Chatterjee: A Film-maker Remembers’.

In this interview, Suman Ghosh talks about Soumitra Chatterjee’s progression from a leading star in Bengali cinema to a bankable character actor later in his career, his insatiable urge to constantly hone his craft, hesitancy to work in Hindi films, and his acting legacy.

Excerpts

Q1. As someone who directed the legendary Soumitra Chatterjee in several films, how do you see his progression as an actor right from his first films to his last one?

A. I would break Soumitra Chatterjee’s career in two parts. One is till Satyajit Ray was alive. The 1990 film Shakha Proshakha was their last film together. The interesting thing is that after Satyajit Ray passed away in 1992, Soumitra Chatterjee embarked on a new journey of sorts playing character roles where young directors like me come into play. Now, if you look at the first part of his career, in commercial films also he was one of Bengal’s top stars along with Uttam Kumar. But around say mid-80s and early '90s he started exploring other character roles which have left an indelible mark on the history of Bengali cinema over the last three decades.

Q2. During your session at the JLF 2022 you touched upon how Soumitra Chatterjee remained the biggest star in Bengal throughout his career. What do you attribute this to?

A. I think a lot of the films would not have been made which were blockbuster hits in Bengal if he were not a part of them. For example, let’s take the case of the 2015 film Bela Seshe. Now, the director told me that he wouldn’t have made the film without Soumitra Chatterjee as there’s no one else to play that role. Some of my films such as the last film that I made called Basu Paribaar I wouldn’t have made it had he not been there. So it is not just the box-office pull but also that image and charisma. Bengali audiences have a special connection with Soumitra Chatterjee for ages now. There is no one equal to him. I can say that in the context of Hindi cinema for Amitabh Bachchan. I don’t think Shoojit Sircar would have made films like Piku or Pink had Amitabh Bachchan not been around.

Q3. Soumitra Chatterjee had a remarkable mastery over the Bengali language. Also his diction was flawless. The short film Ahalya is a great example of his command over the language. Was it something he always had or did he attain the mastery over time?

A. Well, he was one actor who was always working on his craft. It’s really unbelievable. Having won some of the greatest acting honors in the country as well as abroad he really had nothing more to prove and yet he was always very keen on developing his craft, further and further. So, in Ahalya, which is directed by Sujoy Ghosh, who is a very good friend of mine, Soumitra Chatterjee got so involved that Sujoy who was working with him for the first time got so surprised to see his commitment. Soumitra Chaterjee would regularly call him up trying to get hold of even the minutest of the character details such as diction and various nuances needed to bring the character to life.

Q4. Why do you think Soumitra Chatterjee wasn’t very keen on working in the Mumbai film industry even though the likes of Shyam Benegal wanted to work with him?

A. He mentioned a couple of things to me. First of all, he wasn’t very comfortable with Hindi. Now for him as an actor it was most important to have a complete grasp of the language. Now of course he could have spent a couple of years to master the language but because he had so much of acting work coming his way in Kolkata he never really had the urge of being a star in Mumbai. Also, he regularly did Bengali theatre and he used to participate in poetry festivals. So he couldn’t just leave everything and shift to Mumbai as then the Kolkata umbilical cord could have got cut in the process.

Q5. So, how do you look at Soumitra Chatterjee’s acting legacy?

A. While he is known so well internationally, there is a void that Shoojit Sircar touched upon in an interview after Soumitra Chatterjee passed away. Indian people outside Bengal don’t know him so well. Of course, they know him as Apu. But, they are not fully aware of his genius as an actor. Shoojit wanted to do a Hindi film with him. So did Anurag Basu but Soumitra Chatterjee didn’t find it very interesting. Then later on he hardly ever left Kolkata because of his health. So just like Shoojit was lamenting, the Indian audiences outside Kolkata ought to have known him better. I think it’s something that we lost out. Of course, Soumitra Chatterjee didn’t really care about it. The only thing that mattered to him was his craft and he was never after any materialistic pursuits. I have written in my book that he is more popular internationally than other parts of India. That’s really a travesty. It’s one of the reasons why I chose to write my book in English and not in Bengali as I wanted people outside Bengal to also read it.

Q6. What are you working on next?

A. I actually do two kinds of films. One is where I experiment, mostly with non-actors. Then I also do the big budget commercial films. So I just finished working a film called The Waste Collector. Currently it’s been edited. And in October I am going to do a period piece based on a very famous Bengali novel.