SVF

Anirban Chakrabarti: If actors do their work well and honestly, then people will definitely watch

West Bengal’s actor Anirban Chakrabarti portrays the eponymous bumbling detective in Eken Babu, a Hoichoi original comedy-detective series. The third season of Eken Babu is set in Dhaka, and has been available for streaming on Hoichoi since Thursday. In an exclusive interview with the Dhaka Tribune Showtime’s Faruque Ratul, Anirban reveals why Ekendra Sen is so eccentric, and why one should watch the third season

You have mentioned that you have lived in Dhaka before? How does it feel returning to this city?

I did not live just in Dhaka. I stayed in the areas surrounding Dhaka as well. I have visited Dhaka on many occasions. Whenever I come here I see that buildings are increasing. Green (nature) is becoming rarer. Pollution is increasing. These are actually characteristics of all metropolitan cities. I can see these changes, like traffic has increased a great deal. However, the warmth and nature of the people is still the same.

Eken Babu is a very comical detective. While designing the mannerisms of Eken Babu, did you research other famous comical detectives which were portrayed by Peter Sellers or Steve Martin?

Well, this is actually a funny story. When I was first offered the role, maybe because of my own ignorance, I had no idea about the two collections of stories on Eken Babu. The way the character is described in the novels is not the way we have depicted him in the series. Even the way character appears in the novel- he is very skinny and he has a full head of hair- none of it matches with my appearance. Therefore, some changes were made in the script after my casting.

Among the Bangali detectives such as Feluda or Byomkesh, whom I have read about in Bangla Literature or watched films, I have seen that they are very serious detectives. A detective who also makes the viewers or readers laugh while solving mysteries, is not that common in Bangla Literature and films. In that sense Eken Babu as a comical detective is a very new concept for Bangali viewers. However, I have not used any characters …Click here to read the full story