'No one else could have played Topshe'

Said Shaheb Bhattacherjee as he and the ���������Royal Bengal Rahasya��������� cast remembered the late Bibhu Bhattacharjee ahead of the Christmas releaseDeblina Chakravorty
When the cast of ���������Royal Bengal Rahasya��������� gathered at a city hotel to talk about the movie, it was evident that it was the late Bibhu Bhattacharjee to whom the movie was dedicated.Director Sandip Ray, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, BD Mukherji and Shaheb Bhattacherjee individually spoke about the late actor, recalling several experiences each had with him during the shoot. Mahendra Soni of Shree Venkatesh Films Pvt Ltd, one of the two production houses presenting the movie was also present.
Said Sandip, ���������Feluda may need no introduction but it is Bibhuda who will be missed.��������� When asked whether he is contemplating on the next Feluda movie already, he said, ���������There is no end to Feluda but with Bibhuda not among us, it will be some time before we get to see another Feluda movie. Meanwhile, I would like to make a women-centric movie now. I guess we all need a change of taste.��������� Most parts of ���������RBR��������� have been shot in the jungles of North Bengal and Bolpur and some parts in Dhenkanal in Orissa. In one scene, Feluda had to be shown handling a poisonous snake. Speaking of the scene, Sabyasachi said, ���������It definitely was a difficult scene. We used a professional snake handler for the scene. Though I was not very confident at first, I still had to appear so because that���������s what Feluda���������s job is and he is supposed to be fearless.���������
However, it was Shaheb aka Topshe, who was most nostalgic about Bibhu. He said, ���������Some of Bibhu jethu���������s scenes in this movie are firsts. For instance, he���������s jumped from moving cars, climbed up a tree.��������� With seniors like Sabyasachi and Bibhu and, of course, Sandip, was it easy for Shaheb to get the best out of himself? ���������The best part of having so many seniors around was that the whole unit became like an acting school.��������� Shaheb said that he goes by the diktat that the script is God. ���������We all have read the book but ultimately one can only pack punch in one���������s performance if he reads the script well. Of course, I kept asking for Sandipda���������s advice on how to improve.��������� The fondest memory he has of acting with Bibhu? ���������There was this one shot where jethu had to run and climb up a tree, but didn���������t feel very confident about it. I went up to him and told him that if anybody could do this, it was him. And the next I knew was that he was up on the tree! It was a one-take okay and we all clapped after jethu���������s scene was done.��������� Shaheb is also to be credited for making Bibhu quit smoking. ���������It now feels strange but jethu had thanked me for helping him kick the habit.��������� Shaheb also feels that when it comes to Topshe, no one but him could have played the role better. ���������I believe when someone is cast in a role, that person has to have some physical similarities with the character. Maybe I looked like the Topshe Sandipda had in mind,��������� he says.