“I essayed role of psychiatrist in the ailing director`s life”

Kolkata: In the role of a counsellor coming to the aid of an ailing mercurial director undergoing treatment at a hospital, popular actor Abir Chatterjee says not seeing Ritwik Ghatak`s films again before shoot helped in increasing believability of the character in ‘Meghe Dhaka Tara’.

"Certainly one of the most intense performances in my career, where I have to befriend the ailing director Nilkantha and become the mirror of his self, his bruised ego, his sense of being misunderstood and not wholly understood," Abir told reporters about his role in the semi-biopic. "I play the psychiatrist of the director who gets admitted to hospital," the dapper-actor said. He confirmed the film captured one of the turbulent phases in Ritwik Ghatak`s life when he got admitted to hospital being spurned by audience, said. Abir, who brands Ritwik`s children`s film `Bari Theke Paliye` (escape from home) centering on the escapade of a child and his discoveries, as his most favourite admitted he did not identify with all cerebral works of the unconventional film maker. "That was a different phase, a different time. These were cult movies but may be I couldnot connect with the mood and feel as I didn`t belong to that era," he said. Actor Bidipta Chakroborty, who portrays the role of actress Shefali in the movie, said the black and white frames were necessary to retain the periodicity look of the movie. Shefali, inspired by a celebrated theatre and film personality of that era, was more based on Kamaleswar`s own theatre background and research and the film can`t be called a Ritwik Ghatak biopic, the Mr and Mrs Iyer actor said. "You can`t keep kamaleswar`s Meghe Dhaka Tara side by side with Ritwik`s. But yes the two will together help you understand the man," she said. Meghe Dhaka Tara, produced by Venkatesh Films, will be released on June 14 with an enviable cast of Saswata Chatterjee, Ananya Chatterjee and others. PTI