Victor Banerjee regrets not getting roles befitting his age

Kolkata: Happy to be cast in the first Bengali sci-fi movie on the lines of big Hollywood productions, actor Victor Banerjee said though he would love to do more main lead roles in Bengali films but offers were not coming his way.

"Ask your directors, ask Rituparno Ghosh whose films I am fond of, why they are not casting me in roles befitting my age these days!" the internationally-acclaimed actor said expressing surprise. Victor told PTI between shots for ‘Mahakash Kando’, that he loves watching new Bengali flicks, but he cannot ask for roles for obvious reasons. "They have to come my way," the actor, whose role in David lean`s ‘A Passage to India’ generated international interest in him leading to his landing plum roles in several Hollywood films, said. "Well, I can`t do lead roles of young people any more at this phase of my career. The present-day talented Bengali directors have to write scripts featuring unconventional leads as well, like those of elderly characters," he added. The former art dealer, whose acting in ‘My Brother Nikhil’ received rave reviews a few years back, said he was not referring to types of films made by Satyajit Ray or Rituparno Ghosh, but that he saw no variety in roles even in the present Bengali entertainers. "Remember how I was used by Prabhat Roy (a known name in Bengali commercial genre) in the lead role of a righteous old man in `Lathi` some years back?" he said. Very positive about his role in ‘Mahakash Kando’, Victor said it could be easily called one of the most interesting roles he ever played in his career. He gave a thumbs-up to the director of the film and friend Nitish Roy who, he said, "has decades of experience in Indian cinema". "I always like science fiction. Perhaps because I like sci-fi so much, I relished the character of an absent-minded, eccentric character in the movie who keeps making new inventions and then forgetting all," he said. ‘Mahakash Kando’ is being produced by Pragyan Media. PTI