SINCERITY AND HONESTY IS THE USP OF THE PSYCO THRILLER ‘DAKBAKSHO’: PRO

Dakbaksho is an upcoming Bengali psychological thriller film directed by Prosenjit Choudhury. The film is scheduled to be released tomorrow i.e. 26^th June 2015. It tries to explore the crisis of communication between individuals and identities. Though the film cast doesn’t belong to the traditional box artist category however, they have a very strong theatrical background, which creates a big plus point altogether. The film stars Supriti Choudhury, Satrajit Sarkar and Pradip Roy in principal roles. For Dakbaksho, director Prosenjit Choudhury, made an effort to create a visual story out of Shakti Chattopadhyay’s famous poem “Postman in the Autumn’s wood”. TNI Representative R. Subrata talks with Prosenjit Chowdhury, the cinematographer and an editor of the film on the eve of its release for a pre-release interview.

TNI: Tell us something about the latest movie Dakbaksho?

Prosenjit: Dakbaksho is an independent feature film which we started shooting back in 2013. It’s a psychological drama revolving around Srija, a documentary film maker who gets detached from her job due to some controversy regarding her last documentary which was about political murders. To add to the obscurity, a person starts to drop letters in an abandoned letterbox while alongside a sinister plot is being devised to murder someone. Things get more complicated when a mysterious photographer makes way into Srija’s house.

TNI: Tell us something about your experience of filming the story especially the sets, environments, the cast and of course the director.

Prosenjit: We started shooting this film, way back on 2013, so it took long to finish the shooting and post production work and it’s finally releasing on June 26. We shot this in a very homely atmosphere as it’s an independent venture so budget was an issue from the very beginning and we tried to cut extra costs to add that budget in production. Everything was in the house, we shot at director’s place, lead actors used to help each other in makeup, cooking food and even serving them. When everyone in a unit tries to create something together the environment and nature automatically boosts up your energy to the next level. We didn’t have a budget to hire a helicam but i wanted some aerial shots for a sequence so i did paragliding for that. And i am blessed with a wonderful team. They made my work easier. The fun part is obviously me and the director share a same name. Even surname too! So there’s a misunderstanding around regarding our names. I shot the film and edited the rough cut. Director Prosenjit Choudhury is basically a laparoscopic surgeon and it’s his first directorial venture. Even such things happened that we shot more than 32 hours with 2/3 hours break and then after pack up he went out for a surgery. Prosenjit da has got some great energy and he is one the nicest and humble person around me now a days.

TNI: What is the USP of Dakbaksho?

Prosenjit: USP of Dakbaksho is, without any doubt is the story and its honesty. Each frame will reflect the hard work and sweat of the team behind it. The story is so relevant in today’s age that every one may rediscover herself or himself after watching this. As the basic idea or the hidden message is about communicating with own self. We have so many apps for communicating faster these days but somewhere deep down inside we all are lonely and forget to look into the mirror. This film is a reflection of the inner us in disguise of a thriller.

TNI: What is your opinion regarding the absence of box office stars in the film? Dont you think this is going to affect the promotion of the film?

Prosenjit: Director Prosenjit da has a very nice explanation for this. We completed the whole process of the film in near about 2.5 years. Initial six months, before i joined was acting workshop. He never wanted to start the shooting until he brings out the character he wanted from the actors. Lead actor Satrajit Sarkar is a well known face in theater. He did “Ruddha Sangeet” before and now he is doing “Boma” under Bratya Basu’s direction. Now in an independent project like this, where a director is much more concerned and honest about making it flawless in terms of acting, I guess it would be very difficult for any box office star to invest so much time in a project of a debut director. End of the day a good film needs good actors with great acting capability which we have for sure. And no one starts as a star, they grow gradually. And honestly i think a star can pull the sell up for the first weekend or the first week maybe. The story and good acting does the rest.

TNI: Tell us something about the music of the film.

Prosenjit: We have a Tagore song and Prosenjit da himself wrote the rest of the songs and tuned them too. Nirmalya Humptoo Dey and Tapan Kr. Dey arranged the tracks and background score of the film. Rupankar, Monomoy, Avik, Mom, Sunetra sang very well. The songs gives you a feel of nostalgia of the late 90′s modern Bengali songs which we miss too much these days. “Kakeder Gaan” and “Swapno dekhi” is already a hit.

TNI: Tell us something about your future ventures in Tollywood or elsewhere?

Prosenjit: At present i am working on two indie features. One is Krishnendu Dutta’s “Ajob Danga” and another is Raja Ghosh’s “Tiffin Box”. Some other projects are planned in queue. Lets’ talk about them later. Till then, it’s “Dakbaksho” time.