Raj Chakraborty was on fire while interacting with OTTplay while promoting his upcoming film Shontaan. “We are a bunch of hypocrites. We like to see others fail without trying for our own success. Here filmmakers pay for bad reviews for other directors’ films,” he said. Raj’s upcoming film Shontaan will release on December 20. The film features Mithun Chakraborty, Ritwick Chakraborty, and others. Before the release, the director talked about his movies and how' sabotaging' impacts the Bengali film industry. Read on...

The trailer of Shontaan reveals a family drama. Tell us about the film...

Of course, Shontaan (one’s child) is a family drama. It belongs to every family. It is a story of a father and a son. It is indeed a family drama with a lot of emotions. It is a sensible and sensitive story. While one may have seen these characters, this story is unique. No one has seen this story before.

We usually grow up hero-worshipping our father. When we finally become adults we hit a situation where we feel our parents don't understand anything and we do. When we explain this to our parents they say, ‘You will understand our POV when you become a parent.’ When I became a father, I realised what my father went through. I really understood his POV. In fact, he used to tell me that you are my son, and it is my responsibility to protect you. When I was young my parents used to ask me to get home before it was dark. And I used to argue and dismiss their directive, ignoring their intention to keep me safe. I used to take them for granted. My love for them has always been unconditional but this conflict was unavoidable. Now I understand that their intention was to make me safe and suitable for the world.

Then I stepped out of my house and started living in the city for work. I started having my friends and my parents kept on waiting for me. When I used to get back, maa used to cook. Baba used to buy things I would love. And yet, I would not recognise their effort. Parents' love for their children is always unconditional, but the child might start having another universe of their own. Now that I have become a father, everything revolves around them. I called at least a hundred times to know if Yuvaan was back from school, ate properly, rested properly, and so on. Now I understand what my parents used to feel. So Shontaan, for me, is very personal. It is a tribute to my parents. Not just for me, everyone will be able to relate. It is a tribute to all the parents around us.

Time and again we see you collaborate with Ritwick Chakraborty. While you are known to be a mainstream director, Ritwick’s image is often associated with offbeat films. How does this crossover work between the two of you?

I always enjoy taking a non-mainstream actor and making him work in a high-octane commercial film and taking a commercial hero/ heroine and making them subtle in an off-beat character. I just simply enjoy messing around like that (laughs). This way, I challenge people’s perceptions are judgements (laughs). I love that. I love challenging conventions. It is the same thing for me as well. When I was told that I would not be able to make sensible cinema, I made Parineeta. I think I can do everything.

But what do you really want to make?

Oh, I want to make money (laughs). I want to make hit films and make money. I make films to make money. I have no interest in awards. I never go to award functions. I just want to make money. The moment you would like to make films to receive awards, your films will not make money.

You are known for your larger-than-life drama. When will you be back with those films?

I’ll be back with that. The Hindi series I am shooting (a take on his film, Parineeta), has a lot of such moments. In fact, anything I do has some kind of energy in there. That’s my energy. I do not write hissed dialogues that will discuss Fellini, Truffaut, and Godard. All this appears to me pretentious.

Your films used to have gorgeous songs, stunning action and so on...

When I’ll have money to make such a film. There is no money in the industry. We are going through a transition period. Once it is over, we will be back making those big budgets commercial cinema. There is no recovery right now. Look, you make some investment to make a film. Like every other business, there is a revenue model in filmmaking. Our revenue model has shrunk. It used to be big earlier. That was the time when commercial films used to rule. During that time, even if a film failed to perform, the rights would fetch a good amount of money. Now a commercial film will have dances and fight sequences, and all these involve money. These days, since there is no money, we cannot make films like that. And to fix this, we all have to brainstorm. In fact, our audience will also have to take responsibility. If they are keen to watch Pushpa 2 or Stree 2, they will also need to watch Bengali films. For us, it is a perception battle. It has been constantly fed to the audience that there is no good Bangla cinema. That's not true. I never say, ‘Bangla cinemar pashe daran.’ I won’t beg. However, I would like to challenge the common perception. I would rather say, ‘Please watch a film before writing it off.’ Unfortunately, it has become a fad to ‘dislike’ Bangla cinema or gaan. Even during the RG Kar protest, I saw people calling to boycott Babli and then went and watched Stree 2 in the night show and went to pubbing after that. Meanwhile, people who wanted to watch the film watched it. That that is not enough. A Bangla film will need to have a very good run at the box office. We will need at least four more films that will run as much as Bohurupi did. Only then will we have a stable market.

In fact, I think Bohurupi should have a longer run. When Hindi films got released, there was a slash in their shows. That is unfair. People just love to demean Bangla films.

But what about the responsibility of filmmakers?

We all want to make good films. Given our resources, that’s what we aim to do. No one starts a film thinking they’ll not make a great film. They are all dedicated filmmakers. Some films work and some don’t. You will have to step into our shoes. It is like tightrope walking. We all operate in an insecure zone.

Contrary to our industry, in the South, people are so dedicated that they first go to watch a film and then decide if it is good or bad. Here, soon after the trailer release, there are trailer reviews. Based on trailer reviews people decide whether or not to go and watch a film. That is insane in my opinion. Even a hit Bengali film has a viewership of one to two lakh people out of 10 cr people. If 20,000 people decide not to watch the film based on the trailer reviews, it becomes silly.

But who is responsible for that?

I don’t know who is responsible for this. I think the fall of mainstream cinema is one of the reasons behind it. Most people enjoy mainstream films. If I make a mainstream cinema, there will be people sabotaging it. I will not get enough shows. Cinepolis Acropolis will not give me shows. Hindi films will get shows. We constantly deal with this sabotaging. Even Bohurupi had to deal with this sabotaging. We let go of things very easily. Then we are also a bunch of hypocrites. If two people protest against exhibitors’ discrimination, three people will go against them. For us, the problem is, that we want to see your failure without caring about our success. Some of the people will be happy to see if Shiboprosad Mukherjee’s film fails. It doesn’t matter if their films are running or not. There are Bengali filmmakers who pay money for bad reviews of other directors’ films. They invest to manipulate ratings. If one can buy good reviews for their own film, why can’t they pay for bad reviews of others?

After five years, you are not the Chairperson of the Kolkata International Film Festival committee. Are you going to miss the buzz?

I am on the committee. I will be around. The position comes with a lot of responsibility. I am free this year. I’ll watch films and enjoy. Goutamda (Ghose) was the chairman before. He is very able. This festival is our pride, and we will safeguard it.

So we will see you there throughout the festival?

No, I will be out, and I’ll join the festival from December 8.

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