Dev.D’s Chunni speaks
Here’s a conversation with Dibyendu Bhattacharyya, alias Chunni from Dev.D, which I had with him for a story in my newspaper. Hope you enjoy reading it:
Dev.D has changed your life as an actor. Why do you think your characterization could connect with people?
DevD is yet another film on my platter. It has surely been the most popular. I still don’t know about my life as I have a lot of substantial, pivotal roles to do further ahead, but as an actor it is has highly motivated me to do even better ahead. It has surely increased my confidence and conviction.
This character has had a history of its own though. Chunni is all about connections… be it with Dev or Chanda or anyone else. Chunni as a character is found everywhere in regular walks of life and Chunni is very stylized and very fresh. It is a directorial devise to make connections. He is like a midnight cowboy. His days and nights are totally different. Chunni is a very fascinating character to play, I thoroughly enjoyed doing it. I am glad people have connected with Chunni.
Did you go purely by Anurag Kashyap’s vision of the character or did you give your own creative inputs to it?
The character took birth in Anurag’s mind. It is his ideas and his version and his creation. Being the captain of the ship he has executed the film and being a professional actor I surely have come with little ideas and styles but all needed to be approved by Anurag as he knew the character in its totality. I am always a director’s actor. My main motto is to satisfy the director first and then, when I satisfy my viewers, I feel content and feel the job is complete. Basically, I feel that an actor-director relationship is a two-way street. The director, Anurag in this case, of course, gave the character its genesis but when he gave this part to me it becomes my responsibility as well as my pride and joy to present it back to him with as much aplomb and understanding as my craft and experience brings to it. Then of course the fine tuning and collective nurturing starts which takes the character to its fruition to the director’s as well as the actor’s contentment.
Dev.D has clicked in a big way with the urban audiences. Why do you think it could do so? As an actor, did you watch the other versions of Devdas before preparing yourself for this deconstruction of the story?
The response that Dev.D has got has definitely been given by the viewer of today. When I say this what I mean is that the urban youth relates or identifies with Dev because of a lot of common ground that it shares with him – not just with him but with almost every character in this film. This is so only because the contemporary reality reflected in the film, whilst adapting an age-old classic, has been very well-grounded and attached to the current times. Be it the sexual straightforwardness of Paro, the malignment of Chanda or the decadent destruction of Dev, an aimless affluent directionless youth.
The India and its group of inhabitants portrayed in this film are extremely true to the real India and appear more approachable than just being caricatures from some fantastical melodrama, who are so distant that they almost appear to be from the outer space.
As for the second part of the question, of course, in my growing up years and my youth I have had the opportunity to see the other Devdas’. But those esteemed directors had their own takes on the various ways that they saw Chunnilal. Whereas in Anurag’s and my discussions the Chunni that took shape and form had nothing to relate to with the earlier versions as the contemporary nature of Anurag’s interpretation of the whole film was very personal to him and me, and had nothing to do with the personal space of the earlier directors. Hence, in the preparation of Chunni there was hardly a part that the earlier portrayals played.
While doing films, how do you use your training of a theatre actor? Or do you have to leave that identity and adjust every time you emote before the camera?
Stage is the mother of acting, so it always is handy if one knows the craft. One does not leave it behind but one evolves everytime as per the need of the character.
You have acted in several other significant films (Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding, Pankaj Advani’s Urf Professor, Shimit Amen’s Ab Tak 56, Vishal Bhardwaj’s Maqbool, Sudhir Mishra’s Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi, and Ketan Mehta’s The Rising – The Ballad Of Mangal Pandey), but still it took you so long to get recognition with Dev.D. How do you look back at this period of “struggle”, if one might call it so?
I look back at life with a smile on my face. It has never been a struggle for me as I believe that it is not about the destination, but about the journey.
What are the other projects you are involved in right now? And what are the aspects that attract you to accept a role?
The current projects in hand are Bhoomi (directed by cinematographer Abhik Chattopadhyay), Saloon (directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat), a small town comedy film where I play a flamboyant, colourful guy, Jhirnee (directed by debutant Apratim Khare), which is a period film based in the 1830s, and Pairon Taley – The Soul of the Sand (directed by Sidharth Srinivasan), which is a tale of urban and rural India co-existing in today’s times set in the national capital region. The last film has already won the Hubert Bals fund award of the Rotterdam Film Festival. As long as any character appeals to my sensibilities as a human being and a performer, I am game.
At this stage as an actor, can you be choosy about what you would do, or would you do big commercial films just because the money is good?
It’s not about the money or classifying films into commercial or art house or crossover. As long as the film, the role and the overall sensibilities of the film appeal to me. I am open to working with the masters as well as newcomers.
Are you open to doing films in other Indian languages, apart from Hindi?
I am open to all kinds of films, I have been a part of English films also. I am doing Bengali films, and am completely open to working in the vibrant and ever-challenging South industry.
You trained as a theatre actor, and did a lot of plays. How do you keep in touch with theatre now, in the midst of hectic and erratic film schedules?
Thetre has always been a passion and almost a first love. During and in between schedules, whenever I can make some time, I vehemently follow all the plays that I can. I, with my wife Richa, also try to mount as many workshops and performances as possible. I am always keenly involved in interacting with upcoming theatre talents and rarely say no to honing their skills to the best of my abilities, given an oppurtunity. An avid reader, I also keep in touch with past and current plays which keep me stimulated.
Often there is an allegation that NSD passouts neglect theatre as soon as they start getting film / TV roles. What is your take on that?
This is according to me and a lot of my peers is a complete fallacy and the construction of a lot of over-imaginative regressive minds. In my knowledge and a lot of publicly-available interviews that are freely present in the public domain, it is quite clear that most of the people who have had a proper grounding in theatre never actually abandon it. A case in point being Naseer bhai (Naseeruddin Shah).
Personally, would you go for a film role or a theatre role if both demand the same time frame from you? Simply put, how would you balance the monetary and creative needs?
Thankfully such an occasion has never reared its head. But if it does, the decision will completely depend on the calibre of the part offered irrespective of whether it is from theatre or film. As far as balancing creative and monetary needs goes, I shall cross that bridge when I come to it.
Do you think with the making of more and more unconventional films within the Hindi mainstream cinema in recent years, the scope for actors like you to shine has increased?
See, since the inception of the cinematic art, boundaries have always been pushed. There is no denying the cesspool that exists not just in Hindi but in cinema made in any language across the globe. Of course, recently Hindi cinema seems to be taking a more challenging and bold departure from the run-of the mill stuff. With new directors breaking ground on various frontiers where subject matter is concerened. actors too are getting to try new and fresher roles. This phenomenon is surely beneficial to me as an actor and to the whole breed of talented actors who were probably sidelined due to cesspool cinema.
As an actor, whom do you model on if you do so at all?
Frankly I do not model myself on any actor living or otherwise. What I do try and achieve is some sort of a rediscovery through all the big and small experiences that I keep myself open to in day to day life.
Who are the people who have influenced your growth as an actor?
It might sound cliched but coming from a Bengali family – a Bengali joint family – there was always a cultural atmosphere at home where there were no limitations on the children to pursue any kind of creative interests. Right from my childhood, I had a very special and strong bond with my grandfather who was a pandit of Sanskrit and with whom I used to drift into sleep hearing him chant various shlokas and other religious and mythological lullabaies which somehow kindled a vivid imagination right from then. My paternal uncle also had a huge and more direct influence on me as he was an actor in the Jatra form and used to smuggle me many a time into his rehearsals and always gave me preferrential seating at his troops performances. My first memories are of performing whatever used to stay back with me from these soirees to a forcibly-arranged family audience which found it hard to refuse the demands of the apple of their eyes! I guess these early influences and support systems have played a major part in my formation as an actor, whether with or without my knowledge.
Tags: Anurag Kashyap, Dev.D, devdas, Dibyendu Bhattacharyya, National School of Drama
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Utpal..Great..one more good interview…hope talented people get more media space and limelight
Had always loved Dibyendu’s acting…he was superb in that scene in Black Friday where he breaks down on the phone…heard he is also awesome in Shoonya where he plays a cricket fanatic…he was good in Hulla as well!!
ohh heard he is also there in Urf Professor!!!
Thank you for sharing this with us! He is one actor who always stands out to me, be it in Hulla or Dhan Dhana Dhal Goal – yes, yes, I know. I actually watched that film. Liked the Billu Rani song. Long story…
But Mr. Bhattacharyya has a special appeal, a warmth and honesty that truly stand out in all the films he graces with his presence.
Now that I’ve ‘heard him speak’ I am starting to understand why.
good one. thanks for this!
Thanks Utpal,really nice reading this.Certainly Dibyendu is a bundle to talent & its good he’s getting his due now.
Nice read.
for further reading on dibyedu bhattacharya…
http://passionforcinema.com/?s=kya+aap+debu+ko+jante+hain&x=0&y=0
Thanks for this, Utpal da. Dibyendu’s been fabulous in whatever he’s done – Black Friday, Goal, Hulla.
It’s nice to see great actors getting their due
looking forward from this actor in the future…
debu is a hardworking actorwho’s here to stay.