বাংলায় পড়ুন
As superstar Dev is all ready to hit the big screen with his latest film Kabir, this Friday, he speaks to Jiyo Bangla about his challenges as a producer and actor and shares his views about the film Kabir and the Bengali film industry in general.
Q: Your film is releasing on Friday the 13th. Aren’t you superstitious?
A: Not at all. April 15 is the Bengali New Year Day. Usually the films are released during the Pujas, Christmas, Eid and other festivals. I believe Bengali New Year is a very auspicious day and the first Friday preceding it, just happened to be 13th.
Q: Tell us something about Kabir...
A: The film is about terrorists and I play one. The way they are brought up and brainwashed, their thought process when they are on a mission, the behaviour pattern, what goes on in their heads when they are caught - all these aspects will be highlighted in this film. Nothing like this has ever been tried in Bengali films.
Q: There is some amount of communalism in the film. How relevant it has become given the present scenario?
A: I never thought it will become so relevant and that people are going to relate to the film. I never knew that what I was doing then, will be the talk of the town at a particular point of time. Being an MP it is my responsibility to spread awareness among people that those who spread violence are not members of any particular community because no faith teaches us to kill members of other religions. I am sure it is not written in Gita, Quran or Bible. People seem to be getting more and more sensitive rather than getting more and more intelligent. That is the message we are trying to spread through Kabir.
Q: Many Bengali films have been remade or rather frame to frame copied and you had been part of some as well...
A: But you can’t forget that it had been celebrated massively and all those films have been game changers in the industry. If you talk of four blockbusters in Bengali films I am sure you will get two or three like that.
Q: So as a producer do you want to go with the flow or change the trend?
A: I have already changed the trend and I don’t mind doing remakes as long as my audience likes it. Many of the Hindi films now-a-days are remakes. It is very easy for a reporter to ask these kinds of questions, but at the end of the day we have to answer to the person who buys the ticket and goes to the theatre. We have to ensure that they don’t feel cheated. What matters is the entertainment quotient. It is not necessary that a good original subject will be appreciated. We have many such examples of films, which did not even run for one single show and there are remakes which have done wonderfully well at the box office. For example Ek Tha Tiger is a remake of a South Indian film.
Q: Is it true that you are writing a script for Jeet who had been an arch-rival?
A: Yes. There was a concept in my mind which I have written. I am doing it for him because I am also a producer. I had written that script for myself but later I thought that Jeet is more suited for that part. A producer has to think about the commercial aspects also; moreover I’m not a selfish person (laughs). At the same time I wished to do something different. I appreciate the hard work Jeet has put in in the last 12-15 years and I had to offer him the best script that I could.
Q: How important are special effects in a film?
A: If you are talking about computer graphics, it is the future of any industry. Hollywood has mastered it long back, as Indians we are using it now but it is very expensive, especially for Bengali films. We tried it with Chander Pahar and recently Amazon Obhijaan.
Q: Were you happy with the outcome?
A: See, if you compare it with a Rs 500-crore project, it is next to impossible. You can’t compare it with Avatar or something like that which has a budget of 1000 crores, while Amazon Obhijaan was made with Rs 20 crore. Hollywood is catering to a huge market. Even in Hindi movies special effects are not up to the mark. I have seen KKrish. The special effect was rubbish.
