Kolkata: Dadasaheb Falke recipient Soumitra Chatterjee, who is essaying the role of an Alzheimer’s patient in the Bengali film Sraboner Dhara, said it is not necessary to become the character itself during shooting.
Soumitra Chatterjee, the veteran actor, having a career spanning over six decades, told reporters at the 25th Kolkata International Film Festival here that his experience of having seen various people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease helped him portray the character.
“In my view, it is not necessary to become an Alzheimer’s affected person to portray such a role. If I have to go deep into the inner self of a character, to turn into the character as the camera rolls, then I have to be actually dead while enacting a death scene,” the 84-year-old actor joked.
Soumitra Chatterjee informed that he had read the short story by Dr Subhendu Sen about the loneliness of an Alzheimer’s patient and how he sees the world.
“When I was told by directors Sudeshna Roy and Abhijit Guha about the film’s storyline, which is inspired by Sen’s story, I immediately agreed to do the film,” informed Chatterjee. He also narrated how he drew from experience while portraying the character.
“I had seen many people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. I had the chance to interact with their families. May be these experiences helped me when I was working out the scenes before the camera. But it is not important to become the character and come out of the shell later on,” asserted the actor.
Parambrata Chatterjee essays the role of a young doctor who becomes the companion in the dementia-affected elderly person’s life in the film.
The film, which is competing in the Asian Select section of the KIFF and was screened Wednesday, is eyeing a release early next year.
It should be stated here that a few years back in 2005, Amitabh Bachchan had portrayed the role of a person affected by Alzheimer’s in the film Black. It also got the megastar the National Film Award.
PNN & Agencies