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Dhritiman Chaterji interview: ‘Too much analysing is like gravitating towards death’

The acclaimed actor headlines ‘Professor Shonku O El Dorado’, which is based on the literary character created by Satyajit Ray.

One of Bengali cinema’s most iconic actors leads a quiet life in Goa, surfacing in Kolkata or Mumbai when he sees fit. Dhritiman Chaterji made an impactful debut in 1970 with Satyajit Ray’s Pratidwandi and later starred in Ray’s Ganashatru and Agantuk. Chaterji’s latest movie also has a Ray connection: he plays Professor Shonku, the literary character created by Ray in 1965. In Professor Shonku O El Dorado, directed by Satyajit Ray’s son Sandip Ray, the brilliant and eccentric scientist travels to Brazil to look for the mythical city of gold. The movie will be released around Christmas.

Apart from Ray, Chaterji has worked with Mrinal Sen (Padatik, Akaler Shandhaney) and Aparna Sen (36, Chowringhee Lane, 15 Park Avenue) as well as appeared in Hindi films (including Black, Kahaani and Pink). In a conversation with Scroll.in, the 74-year-old actor spoke about his choice of scripts, his collaborations and his political views.

You have said that you never wanted a career in acting and worked with Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen only to understand their craft better. How did your journey pan out?

The main impetus in working with Satyajit Ray and then with Mrinal Sen was getting closer to people I revered. I was thrilled to be in the films that they did, but I didn’t see it at that point of time as a diving board into an acting career. I was starting another career in advertising and happened to be moderately successful at that. I had that luxury of being able to pick and choose, which was important to me because at that time, I just could not see myself as part of what was the mainstream then.

Later, it sort of changed. Actors get labelled. So there was this ‘angry, young rebel, anti-establishment’ tag that I got labelled with. As I got more and more into acting, I found it interesting to try various sorts of characterisations.

How do you choose your projects now?

My inclinations at one point were not only artistic, but also ideological. But then I discovered the excitement of doing something new …Click here to read the full story