Film and TV actor Samrat Mukherjee, who is currently portraying the character of King Mahendra in Zee Bangla’s recently launched fantasy drama Saat Bhai Champa, says that it was not the role but the story that attracted him. He said, he has played a king before, so it’s kind of doing a similar role in a new project. The actor also expressed that his dream is to do the kind of work that Bollywood actors like Irrfan Khan and Rajkummar Rao are doing. In a recent interaction with media on the set of Saat Bhai Champa, Mukherjee spoke a lot more. Read on-

Talking about returning to television after almost a year, he said, “Yes, I am working in a serial after a gap of almost a year. Actually, cinema comes as a package. Suppose a particular film requires you to work for 20 days so you work hard for 20 days and then relax before preparing for another project but with a TV serial, it’s different. It’s like going to your office daily. It’s like your everyday war; some win it while some get tired. My last serial was Phoolmoni which I completed in January and in December, I returned to TV with Saat Bhai Champa.”

He continued, “In between, I was doing Swapan Ghosal’s films. He is bringing a very good series called Basab Goenda. I did another film called Aath Pake Bandha. With a combination of Rabi Ghosh starrer Galpa Holeo Satyi and Hero No.1, it’s a very good comedy film. So, I have always been busy but it's almost after a year that I will be busy with a TV show.”

Samrat opined that in television almost every type of a character has been explored and there is nothing new left to try.

So, does he get bored of receiving similar acting offers? He quipped, “In television, I think there is nothing new to try. In television you name a character; be it of an honest police officer, a thief police officer, a villain, an underworld don, a king, a prince, a lover, a dance teacher, a wicked husband, everything has been tried. So, yes, I do get bored sometimes. I think even Amitabh Bachchan goes through the phase of frustration. In his acting career which is so, so long, do you think any role is left that he has not tried? I think every actor feels the emotion of frustration at some point in their career. I am playing King in Saat Bhai Champa and I have played such a role before as well in Khona. For me, the exciting part was the story. The character might not be new but the story of course is.”  

“When Subhash Ghai was asked about directing new films, he very pertinently said, like songs can be different but they are made using the seven notes of music similarly, stories might be different but the emotions are the same,” he added.   

When quizzed about his dream role, he expressed that he would like to do what Irrfan Khan and Rajkummar Rao are doing.

Giving reference of Bollywood films, he said, “There is a massive change in Hindi films. Now, they are mostly content driven. But Bengali films have been divided into two groups, one is the typical commercial film which is like the films made in 80s and in the beginning of 90s and the other one is a typical art film. You cannot make the actors of  an art film dance, do fight sequences etc. I feel a dream role would be a subject which is a combination of both wherein one would get to do an intricate role as well as the opportunity to dance like the way Irrfan did in Hindi Medium. In fact, we saw Rajkumar Rao dancing in Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana.”

“I feel Bengali films are not evolving because we do not have such characters. So far, Shibu (Shiboprosad Mukherjee) has done a very good job that’s why people buy tickets to watch his films in theatres. Filmmakers should think about such combination then actors like us would get a scope. I couldn’t use the talents that I have like I am a qualified Bharatnatyam and western dancer but I couldn’t showcase my performance on screen much. Yes, Ravi Ojha had used (my talent) to some extent. Well, I still have a long way to go….let’s see what happens…I did my first film in 1998 called Mrs Universe can you imagine…?” he signed off smiling.

Way to go, man!

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