Mantra Dasgupta believes in planning ahead. So when he is not acting, he is on radio, or on television. He also writes, and is a voice over artist and model. He got his first break in the movie Tume Mile with actor Emraan Hashmi and went on to play the role of a sex toy shop owner in the Ali Zafar starrer, London, Paris, New York. He will now be seen in Dil Patang, a love story where Sahir tries hard to earn his living and win his lady’s heart. “The movie is shot in Delhi and captures a love story on the streets of Chandni Chowk. It has been extremely difficult for us as we have someone or the other peeping into the camera and each shot had to be redone,” he begins. This venture, directed by Vivek Das Chaudhary could be Dasgupta’s big break. In the theatre circuit for the past 15 years, he says, “It has given me a lot of confidence to face the camera. I have worked closely with Atul Kumar. My favourite play would be Hamlet: The Clown Prince.”
His parents established one of the oldest publications in Kolkata – Dasgupta Publications. “I have been reading and writing for so long, and have recently started story-telling. Most of them are personal experiences,” he adds.
A fan of realistic movies, Dasgupta does not want to be stereotyped as a comedian. “When I joined radio, people called me ‘radio jockey Mantra’. Now they call me ‘Mantra from Comedy Circus’. I do not want that tag. I want to do science fiction. I would hate to do sex comedies like Kya Kool Hain Hum and Chashme Badoor, but would love to do a movie like Boom,” says Dasgupta, who looks up to actors like Irrfan Khan, Heath Ledger and considers Amitabh Bachchan to be his competition.
“I want to compete with the best,” he says.