Exclusive! Saswata Chatterjee on his next release: Success of Belashuru and Aparajito will help Tirandaj Shabor

The actor talks about his characters, the film and how he still manages without a mobile phone

Saswata Chatterjee as Shabor Dasgupta

Saswata Chatterjee is a busy man. For years, he has been seamlessly working in both Bollywood and Tollywood. Right now, while he is busy promoting his upcoming film Tirandaj Shabor, his Hoichoi series Mahabharat Murders is awaiting the last instalment and his Bollywood project Dhakaad is still running in theatres. In an exclusive interview with OTTPlay, Saswata talked about his characters, the film and how he still manages without a mobile phone. Excerpts:

You have been running from Mumbai to Europe to Kolkata. Don’t you feel the need for a mobile phone?

No. I am doing fine, thank you (laughs). Look, I take calls on my landline numbers and I am getting work. So what’s the problem? I use my mobile phone when I travel. During that time, I need to communicate with pick up and drop cars, etc. Otherwise, I am usually available on my landline.

The first Shabor film was released in 2015. It has been seven years. What are the changes that you noticed?

The characterisation and the flavour remained the same. But Shabor is a bit more mature now.

You have brilliant chemistry with your assistant Nanda (Subhrajit Dutta). People love your pair...

That is my problem. I only develop such sizzling chemistry with male actors but never with heroines (laughs out loud). First, with Abir (Chatterjee) and Jisshu (U Sengupta) during the Byomkesh series in which I played Ajit and now with Subhrajit. My partnership with my male colleagues is appreciated more than my chemistry with heroines (laughs).

Subhrajit’s character has been appreciated by all and here also we will see new quirks in his character.

Unlike the other two famous Bengali detective characters Feluda and Byomkesh Bakshi, you have so far remained the only face of Shabor Dasgupta. Do you think it is a privilege, given the craze for Bengali sleuths among the audience and film industry?

I would think, yes. I enjoy the novelty. Every time there is a discussion about Shabor, people talk about me. Also, there are very few Shabor stories available. Unless Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay writes more novels, there will only be a limited number of Shabor films.

Tirandaj Shabor will hit the theatre on Friday, when two other Bengali films, Aparajito and Belashuru are running with many housefull shows. Will Tirandaj Shabor benefit from this or will it mean more competition?

It is a good trend. Any film that runs well in theatres will finally help the Bengali film industry as a whole. Our problem in Tollywood is that we want our film to do well and never want other films to have a successful run. The Bengali film industry suffered a lot because of this mentality. I hope things are changing. Bengali films have been running successfully for the last few months. The last four/ five releases did good business. I hope this trend goes on.

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