Bollywood debut
I was at a party when Shoojit Sircar patted me on my back and said he wanted me to do a role in his next film. He asked me to send some pictures with a particular look. I sent them and the rest is history. Guess I was plain lucky. Honestly it feels great. Especially after the movie doing well and people appreciating my look in it.
Also, working with Shoojit is great for he is an extremely encouraging and relaxed director. I also knew John from before I started shooting for Madras Café.
The challenge
First of all it was a Bollywood film so I had some butterflies in my stomach but it turned to be interesting. Additionally I was also little conscious about the particular South Indian Hindi accent I had to used in the film.
Finding out time for the shooting out of my busy schedule at work was also challenging. But I have been successfully able to do that with myself. Juggling time between the role of a corporate head and an actor is difficult but not impossible.
Acting as a profession
Acting till date remains my passion. Managing one of Eastern India’s largest entertainment company, Priya Entertainment, it is difficult to squeeze time but I never really decided. In my first Bengali movie Abaar Aranye, filmmaker Goutam Ghosh literally bulldozed me into acting. With the location of the film being North Bengal, I took it more as a holiday and went ahead with it. Since then, I have tried out different scripts and characters and have enjoyed doing so. But my commitment towards my office also holds me back from taking any serious acting assignments, which will keep me involved for a long period of time. I have been trying to shuffle between the two successfully but also have started enjoying it over the years now.
Best compliment
Just after the film released, I got a call from a veteran commercial actor praising about my performance and also wanted to give me some tips for further enhancing my acting skills.
What next
A few Bengali movies are in the pipeline including a Raja Sen film, a Telugu remake in Bengali starting in September, a film with Rajkumar Yadav (Bengali) and another untitled Bengali film starting in September.