Exclusive! Jeetu Kamal: After Aparajito, the audience expectations have gone up

The actor talks about how he has been handling the success of Aparajito.

Jeetu Kamal as Aparajito Ray in the film

After witnessing box office success across local and national theatres for two weeks, Anik Dutta’s Aparajito is all set to release in the UAE on May 26 with English and Arabic subtitles. The film will be released in eight theatres in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Ajman. Meanwhile, the film will also be released in Australia on May 27.

However, Jeetu Kamal, the man of the moment, seems unaffected. In an exclusive chat with OTTplay, the actor talks about how he has been handling the overwhelming response of his new film.

Excerpts below:

Are other directors approaching you more with new roles after the success of Aparajito?

I am indeed getting offers. I got calls from the directors. But right now, I am very busy with the film’s promotional activities and hall visits. I barely have any time to concentrate on any other offer. Meanwhile, after Aparajito, the expectation level of my audience has gone up. I understand that I will have to be very careful in choosing the next project. I did not have the time to focus on that and, I did not get any offer that excites me truly.

Also read – Bumper collections, audience frenzy: How Aparajito is becoming Bengali cinema's biggest blockbuster in 2022

How does it feel to be a part of this success?

I really do not know how to celebrate. I visit halls and I follow the success path, but I am a little introverted. We all worked hard for this character. That was in my control. But I do not know how to express my feelings now. I follow my guru Goutam Mukhopadhyay’s advice to be rooted and focus on my daily routine of reading and reciting. In fact, I wasn’t even tense before the release. I was tense only during the shooting.

Also read – Aparajito: Four reasons why Bengali audience is going gaga over Anik Dutta’s film

You have been trolled for this role as well…

I switched off my mobile phone on the day the first look of the film was released. I anticipated that there would be conversations and calls. I wanted to avoid that. Many people thought I was arrogant. But reality is I did not want to divert my concentration. I was focusing on the character and did not want any distraction. That’s why I barely got to know who said what.

Trolling continued when your wife revealed that you went through some dental alignment for this role…

I went to my dentist to fix my lower denture which is shorter than it was needed for the character. My doctor did capping on the lower denture and brushed the upper denture to align the structure. Later, after the shooting, I faced minor dental problems due to the rapid changes. I had no intention to talk about it. But my wife, who saw me going through the rigour, wrote it on her social media and people started reacting. I never wanted any cheap thrill or publicity for things I did to portray a character. As an actor, I did what I deemed fit. I have done many more things to fit into the character that I did not talk about. And why should I? Everyone helped me in shaping my character. Anikda used to clarify my doubts even right in the middle of the night. Samik Bandyopadhyay constantly talked about his experience with Ray to make me aware of the character. Somnath Kundu patiently made me look like Ray every day. If I talk about these silly things like dental realignment, their efforts will be trivialised. That’s not on. Anyway, I stayed away from trolls and let the success of the film speak for itself.

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