‘The world is changing. Our films can’t just talk about phool-paata-ghaash’

It is perhaps tough being one of the most talked-about jodis in Bengali cinema. But Nandita Roy and
Shiboprosad Mukherjee, who have worked together for 25 years, delivering commercial hits, controversial blockbusters and taking a few calculated risks, have refused to be boxed in. Barely days away from the release of Phool Pishi O Edward, over a
leisurely chaer adda, the duo spoke about hits and misses, their love for the unexpected chomok, and more.
Edited excerpts:
Your casting often becomes a talking point. Whether it is Soumitra Chatterjee and Swatilekha Sengupta, Victor Banerjee, or now Raima Sen and Arjun Chakraborty. How do you crack these combinations?
Nandita Roy: Casting always begins with the story. We visualise who fits a character best. We never cast someone simply because they are a star. We are always looking for good actors, sometimes actors people have almost forgotten about. It could be Victor Banerjee, Swatilekha Sengupta, Arjun Chakraborty or even Rakhee Gulzar. In this film too, apart from being terrific actors, some of them had been missing from the scene for a long time. That perhaps is the chomok we like to give the audience.
How do you balance seasoned actors and newcomers on set?
NR: It is not difficult. Young
actors come with enormous hunger. My job is to tap into that energy. I tell them, “I have given you a good role. Now perform with all your heart.
I believe in you.” That reassurance helps them overcome
nervousness. Then suddenly you
see them bloom on set. That is the joy of filmmaking.
Raima Sen is working with you
for the first time.
Shiboprosad Mukherjee (smiles): When we called her, she said just one word: “Finally.”
What was she like on set?
NR: Raima is a director’s actor. She comes without baggage. You have to show her exactly what you want and she absorbs it instantly. She would tell Shibu, “Show me how to do it.” She had immense faith in him as an actor-director and would follow instinctively.
SM: The truth is, so many actors here are underutilised. Raima,
Sohini Sengupta, Arjun… all of them are vastly undervalued and underutilised. Sohini is brilliant, when was the last time you saw her cast in an eponymous role as in Phool Pishi…?”

You have built a reputation for social dramas rooted in family dynamics. Yet you also broke away with films like Raktabeej and Bohurupi. Was that a conscious shift?
NR: For us, the story
always comes first. It could be a social drama, thriller, detective story, relationship film or adventure. We never wanted to say, “This is the only kind of cinema we make.” People once dismissed our films as television-like social dramas. That never bothered us.
SM: Things changed after Raktabeej and Bohurupi. With Raktabeej, the biggest concern was whether we could execute something of that scale. But once it worked, it became a leap of faith. We had been waiting almost 12 years to make Bohurupi. During Muktodhara, we met a real-life bank robber who narrated his story. We knew the subject was a winner, but it required a certain scale and budget. After Raktabeej, we knew the time had come.
But with experimentation comes the risk of alienating loyal audiences.
SM: Absolutely. But we also realised we often underestimate audiences. Ninety-year-olds came and told us they enjoyed every minute of Raktabeej. With Bohurupi, even though it was a heist drama, women came to theatres because they connected emotionally
with both the conman and the cop. Beneath the thriller, it was still a family story.
Your first film, Icche, still feels unsettling and deeply contemporary. How has your audience evolved since then?
NR: I don’t think we lost the audience that came with Icche. They stayed with us. Icche was a surprise because it showed there was a
hunger for difficult, layered stories. Right after that we made Accident. Again, a very different subject.
We have always tried to give audiences something new. A new idea, a new perspective or a new emotional experience.
Across industries, filmmakers say audiences have changed post-OTT. What is your reading of the moment?
SM: We are actually doing better business than before Covid. But audiences have changed. You cannot make films limited to South Kolkata drawing rooms anymore. The world is going through seismic changes. Society is changing rapidly. Our films cannot remain stuck in phool-paata-ghash. Cinema has to engage with what people are living through. At the same time, rootedness matters. Whether someone is from Malda, Bardhaman or Kolkata, they should feel, “This is my story.” That emotional connect is our
biggest strength.
You often speak about “the smell of the soil” in storytelling.
SM: Exactly. Look at why Pushpa travelled. Authenticity. You may not know the language, but you can feel the soil beneath it. Bengali cinema also needs to stop believing that Bengal means only South Kolkata and taxis and Howrah Bridge. There are so many dialects, textures and cultures across the state. That diversity must reflect in our stories.
After 25 years, what remains your biggest creative mantra?
NR: Human stories.
SM: Maatir golpo, manusher golpo. Stories rooted in people and their soil. That connection never fails.

You had replaced Arpita Chatterjee with Aparajita Adhya in Praktan. Was that a difficult call?
SM: Everyone knew Arpita was supposed to do the role and there was excitement around that casting, much like Silsila. But once the script was ready, we realised Aparajita would fit the part better. Didi spoke to Arpita and even she agreed.
The same thing happened with Arjun Chakraborty in Phool Pishi O Edward. It was Didi who suggested him opposite debutant Shyamoupti Mudly. The funny thing is nobody had approached Arjun all this while.

Why do you think Bangla cinema still struggles to travel nationally despite subtitles and OTT?

Ananya Chatterjee in a still from the new release

SM: We don’t celebrate ourselves enough. Films like Haami, Konttho, Belaseshe and several others have sold all-language rights. These stories travelled because they were deeply rooted in our soil and our people. We are very quick to celebrate talent from outside Bengal but hesitant to champion our own with the same conviction. We talk endlessly about Sai Pallavi, who is brilliant, but why don’t we speak enough about Ananya Chatterjee? Or Tota Roy Choudhury’s stunning kathak sequence with Ranveer Singh? And look at a film like Nagarkirtan. An outstanding piece of work. Did it truly get its due? Not even in the year when someone from Kolkata was on the Oscar nomination panel. Isn’t that sad? We have the talent, the stories, the technicians. But somewhere we still hesitate to stand up proudly for our own cinema. So many technicians across industries come from Bengal. So many young Bengali filmmakers are doing brilliantly on the festival circuit. But we rarely make noise about our own achievements.

Our story demanded music. We wanted melody. Nowadays songs fade from memory too quickly because melody is disappearing– Nandita

Bengali cinema has always been deprived. I refuse to believe our films are not good enough to travel globally– ShiboprosadWe are simply not proud enough of our own work. Yet Bengal continues producing remarkable technicians and filmmakers– Nandita