123456 Kolkata: Recently, director Prabhat Roy (81) announced his directorial comeback after a decade-long sabbatical. Roy joins the leagues of extraordinary veterans staging a comeback in Tollywood after 75. Sharmila Tagore (80) and Rakhee Gulzar (77) have all returned to face the Tollywood lens in 2024-25. Paran Bandopadhyay (84), Deepankar De (80), Aparna Sen (79), Victor Banerjee (78) and Dulal Lahiri (77) continue their steadfast presence in the industry. Except Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan, all veterans, including Naseeruddin Shah (74), Rajinikanth (74), Shabana Azmi (74), Mammootty (73) and Kamal Haasan (70), who are active on the Bollywood screen are yet to reach 75.
When conventional wisdom suggests that advancing age diminishes productivity levels, casting of seasoned thespians post 75 in Tollywood is influenced as much by the allure of nostalgia as by the recall factor among a large section of the cinema-going Bengali audience that is over 35. In Tollywood, Soumitra Chatterjee was 80 when his ‘Belaseshe' became a success in 2015. He was 82 when he performed in ‘Posto' alongside Lily Chakraborty who was then 77. "Nostalgia is not the sole reason for casting them. A substantial section of the Bengali audience is above 35. These veteran actors possess a recall factor for this demographic who matured watching their films. The success of these productions is encouraging Tollywood to experiment with this casting," Shiboprosad Mukherjee said.
The biggest lesson these veterans are giving on set is adherence to old school commitment, seriousness and dedication despite working in tight schedules. When Suman Ghosh approached Tagore for ‘Purwatan', he knew it would mean her return to Tollywood after her outing in Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury's ‘Antaheen' (2009). "She asked for script some four-five months. She needed books and conversed with me. She knew what time of the day the shooting would happen and was aware of all the nitty-gritties. These days, she doesn't get to speak in Bengali too often. To ensure that her Bengali is correct during sync-sound shooting, she told me that I should not leave her unless the pronunciation and intonation was absolutely right. The entire script had to be written in Bengali instead of Roman English."
At the Kolkata premiere of ‘Puratawn', Tagore told the audience that she was "nervous". But many present in the audience marvelled at how at 80, she gracefully attended an over-crowded premiere show and also noticed the big close-up shots of her wrinkled skin that added a new dimension to the film's visual aesthetics.
Mukherjee is overwhelmed with his experience of working with the luminaries. "Just before giving a shot in ‘Raktabeej', Victor-da still enquires about specifications of lens and performs accordingly. He questioned me regarding my choice of a particular lens for the scene and the reasoning behind utilizing a midshot. On one occasion, when I had informed Soumitra-da that his tears weren't visible on the monitor, he had assured me that I would be able to observe them. Rakhee-di transforms herself completely while performing. Sabitri-di is 89 and everyone in the unit applauded after every shot of hers in ‘Aamar Boss'," Mukherjee added.
Roy is "genuinely looking forward" to his second innings. "Given my current health condition, jumping straight into a feature film didn't feel like the right decision. After a lot of thought and discussions with my daughter, we decided to start with a short film instead. For the past 10 years, I've deeply missed being on set…the energy, the magic, the joy of saying ‘action!' and ‘cut!',," Roy said.
According to Ekta Bhattacharjee, who is producing the short film titled ‘Bolai' with Roy, filming schedule will avoid the sweltering summer heat and any early morning sequences. "We will need to rely on an experienced assistant director. Even for this short film with an anticipated duration of 30 minutes, we intend to film across three days. Should circumstances necessitate, the filming might extend to four days," Bhattacharjee added.