Theatre helps me to understand myself as an artiste and a person: Actor Rwitobroto Mukherjee
Bengali film and theatre actor Rwitobroto Mukherjee played one of the leads in Ashoke Viswanathan's Hemanter Aparanha, which released in theatres earlier this month. IBNS correspondent Souvik Ghosh speaks to Rwitobroto on various fronts in the backdrop of the film's release...
Q. How challenging was it to blend multiple issues like Covid-19, war in a single film?
A. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. Ashoke Viswanathan is an individual who has made films way ahead of his time. I have serious detestment towards the habit of celebrating people only after their death. Ashoke Viswanathan is a person, an artist, a filmmaker, a film scholar and a film professor who always sticks to his stance. I have a great respect for him. So it was a huge thing for me to get a film offer from this kind of person.
Through working in this film, I wanted to learn what goes on in his brain because he is a multitasker. He belongs to a generation of filmmakers who have made films, documentaries, telefilms and much more. I was interested to understand his ideas in 2024. After finishing the film, I realised it was a macro-view into the life of an individual or lives of various individuals and it talks about individual problems in a universal lens.
Photo courtesy: IBNS File
Q. The way he has shown Covid-19 period must have felt unique to you.
A. It was very unique as an audience because the way loneliness has been shown. Ashoke Viswanathan sir has weaved loneliness across generations and suggested how it's not a generational thing anymore in the backdrop of Covid-19. This is the first time I have played an actor onscreen. Apart from this, my role is a theatre actor as well as a film actor. Along with these, the personal life of this character has been dealt with. I could relate to the depth of the multilayers of this character at the conclusion of the film. I watched the film thrice and each time its depth seemed different.
Q. Was it like a dream come true when you gave your first shot under Ashok Viswanathan?
A. It was a time travel somehow for me. I felt this is a sort of filmmaking which is cleansing for the eyes. It would be visual cleansing for the audience, who will realise they have missed this kind of a filmmaking for a very long time. I often wonder about the disappearance of films like Open Tee Bioscope, Teen Yaari Kotha, Chalo Let's Go, Generation Ami. So I got transported to that kind of filmmaking. I understood how he interpreted the story and carefully made the film. This is a very different school of filmmaking which I absolutely loved.
Photo courtesy: IBNS File
Q. How challenging does it feel to work in an ecosystem where films are rarely based on rural backdrops?
A. As an actor and an artiste, I have been gifted in that section because my roots belong to multiple things. From my schooling to college to theatre background, I got to interact with different sections of people. Since I have started working very early in my life, a few actors of my age carry the kind of body of work which I have. I work in theatres on a regular basis so I get opportunities to interact with common people.
Despite being a celebrity, I actually get to interact with real human beings rather than a lot of others because we work in theatres collectively. I talk to people belonging to various strata and that helps me to understand where I stand as an artiste and a human being. Somewhere I think my familial background, my upbringing and the humility that I have been brought up with and passed to me generationally, familially, pedagogically and professionally have helped me to take a stance as an artiste.
Q. How much did you enjoy the theatre segment in the plot?
A. I enjoyed it a lot! It's very well shot by our cinematographer. I loved the layers of the performance. The intimate interactions within a theatre group is rarely captured in a film like it has been done in Hemanter Aparanha. There is a lot beyond the theatre shots which have been unexplored in films in general.
Photo courtesy: IBNS File
Q. How was working with Anusha Viswanathan, your good friend?
A. It was hell of an advantage for myself and Anusha to work together. I feel pampered when I work with her. We as professional actors and personal human beings share an immense respect and space for each other. We have a space for honour and humility and as friends, we are also very close from where we are aware of our positions on and off camera. It's lovely to work with Anusha. I am always eager to work with her.
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