Kolkata/IBNS: Tollywood superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee on Friday heaped praises on his long-term co-star and senior Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta, whose new film ‘Datta’ was premiered at a theatre house here.
Speaking to IBNS, Prosenjit, whose on-screen pairing with Rituparna is still iconic, said, “She is an era by herself. People may often forget but Rituparna was an actor who shot for both ‘Sasurbari Zindabad’ and ‘Paromitar Ek Din’ in a single year. These are difficult tasks.”
“Very few actors have achieved such a feat of working for two different films, one winning the National Award and the other is a hardcore commercial film. Only working for films doesn’t make an actor survive for 25-30 years like Rituparna did, it needs a lot of dedication and sacrifice,” the actor added.
Apart from countless successful commercial films spanning over decades, Prosenjit and Rituparna have featured in iconic late Rituparno Ghosh’s ‘Utsab’, the title after which the former named his south Kolkata residence.
After a break from films as an on-screen pair, the two veteran actors returned to silver screens together with Nandita Roy-Shiboprosad Mukherjee’s 2016 film ‘Praktan’, which was well received by the audience. Later, they went on to act in Kaushik Ganguly’s ‘Drishtikone’.
Meanwhile, Rituparna’s ‘Datta’, which is directed by debutant Nirmal Chakravarthy, is based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel of the same name. The novel was twice adapted to films earlier, in 1951 and 1976.
The story, which showcases the Victorian notion of growing attachment, revolves around a growing attachment between an affluent Brahmo woman and an indigent but a brilliant young Hindu man despite all odds.
Speaking of essaying Bijoya, Rituparna earlier told IBNS, “I think Bijoya is a very strong character. In the course of working for the film, I realised how relevant Bijoya is in our present society where inequality still exists.
“So a character like Bijoya is relevant even now. Today’s women may take inspiration from Bijoya. It was difficult back then as compared to now.”
Bijoya was played by late acting legend Suchitra Sen in the second film adaptation of ‘Datta’ directed by Ajoy Kar.
(Images by Avishek Mitra/IBNS)
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