Back in a New Avatar!

Yoddha is my first ever costume drama, set in two different time periods. For an actor, every film is distinctly different, and demands diiferent things from an actor. With each film, one more challenging than the other; an actor grows, which is what I am aspiring for—to grow with every film, and make the audience like what I am presenting to them.

What challenges did Yoddha pose for you?

This is the biggest film I have ever worked for. There were 100 horses, 3000 junior artistes spaced out on a lavishly constructed set, spanning large tracts of land, and props. A single shot took three hours before Raj (Chakraborty) could okay it. As an actor, it was a bigger challenge, but that is another story.

Tell us about the story and your role.

It is the Bengali remake of Magadheera, a Telugu hit (2009). I did not want to be influenced by Ram Charan Teja’s portrayal of my characters in the original film, so I did not watch the original. The role demanded my concentration for nearly 18 months, and was a double role, where I portray both the angry warrior Rudra, and his contemporary reincarnation, Abir. Rudra is born to fight like a warrior while Abir is born to love. This demanded different body language for the two characters. You just could not afford to go wrong.

Did you learn skills you didn’t know before?

I had to learn sword fighting which demands great physical flexibility, and mental tenacity.

We hear you have decided to work on one film at a time.

I’ve decided to sign three films in a year, and work on one film at a time. Each character needs a lot of commitment to make it seem convincing, and credible to your audience. I would love to be remembered as the character I played in a given film such as in Buno Haansh, and not as Dev, the star.

But aren’t these two things basically the same?

They are in the sense that every star dreams of being remembered as an actor, and every actor who is not a star yet wants to become one. But becoming a star is also a matter of destiny, while trying to become an actor is determined entirely by one’s honesty, determination and hard work. I grow with every film and continously try to improve.

Every actor lives in a self-constructed fear. What is yours?

Failure. I have yet to cope with a total commercial disaster, but that does not mean it will never happen. How will I cope with it when it comes? Will I go into depression? Will I stop acting for a while, or will I take it up as a challenge and move on? The 14 months between my first film I Love You and Premer Kahini when I had no work at all (though both were box office hits) were the most difficult months of my life. Before the release of all my films, I feel this will surely be a flop, but let us cross the bridge when we come to it.