Mumbai: In conversation with the star cast of ‘Khakee: The Bengal Chapter’ Ritwik Bhowmik, Aadil Khan, and Chitrangda Singh where they share insights into their craft and experiences. They discuss how Kolkata's cultural heritage enhances their performance, using their voice as a tool, and the importance of learning and diversifying. The actor also opens up about working on a legacy series, and finding camaraderie with an ensemble cast, including Jeet and Prasenjit.
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00:00You have asked a very nice question because Adil and I used to discuss this a lot that we did workshops in Bombay, we had a script, so there was a foundation and structure of a character, which was given to us that this is where you begin from and now make it your own and we did a lot of hard work, we did a lot of workshops, rehearsals to understand Shagur and Ranjeet and their relationship.
00:30and where they come from, but until we reached Kolkata, until we came here, we didn't drink water there, we didn't taste the air there, until then we didn't understand what exactly these parts are and I think we reached 2-3 days before our shoot started and we used to just roam on the streets, we used to have tea somewhere, we used to sit somewhere, we used to eat somewhere and we were roaming on the streets and just in those 2-3 days, if we had spent 2-3 months there, then I don't know what would have happened, but in those 2-3 days we understood that
01:00the line that is written in front of us has a different way of reading it, it has a different way of listening to it, it has a different way of thinking because we are looking at those people, everything changed, Kolkata has a different pace to it and it is in the energy of the city, which got on to us and suddenly it gave us a way and at work beautifully, the time is different there, like Adil says with a lot of love that he has heard somewhere that Kolkata is 100 years behind in its time and 100 years ahead in its time.
01:29So, it's basically the presence and absence of time is the sense of time there, it has no sense of time and completely is ridden with time also, so when that energy came inside us, then we understood Shagor and Ranjeet on our own, the food there, the water there, as soon as you drink it, a smile comes on your face, no matter how violent the characters are, you will see a smile on their faces throughout the show, until you get angry, so we got that smile from there and the way they are
01:59charging in the walking, we got that pace from there, we got the walk from there, we understood that this is what should happen, so the city has had a big impact to build these characters.
02:15Why not thinking about it, you know I will tell you initially when I was transiting from a radio jockey to an actor, my voice was being a problem for me, which I understood in a while because radio voices everything and
02:28there's a certain way that radio jockeys speak because again people are just listening to you and then that stays with you.
02:35So, the way I am talking now, I don't talk like this at that time, so I used to talk like this at that time.
02:39More basic.
02:40Or I used to talk like this, because it becomes your way, but eventually when I got into acting, I realized that I need to unlearn that and break that, you know so, this is what my teachers also told me that you have a good voice and you don't need to flaunt it,
02:56no matter how ever you speak, people will know that you have a good voice.
03:00So, breaking that, unlearning that and giving less importance to the fact that people like my voice, probably helped me as an actor, because otherwise I was stuck in that.
03:12And it used to come so subconsciously that I would not even realize that I am talking like this.
03:18Now I can switch, so I can talk to you like this at home.
03:24It's actually a very good thing because he knows how to use his voice, how to modulate, how to, like you said, weaponize, I guess, it's a very big part of acting, how to be able to use your voice, your breath and everything, it's a very important part of it.
03:37So, I am sure that helped.
03:39Yeah, definitely.
03:41So, you know, I have not studied acting.
03:44I have never done theatre, nothing.
03:46It actually was like the best coincidence of my life, I suppose, you know, that I got discovered.
03:51And I was modeling in Delhi.
03:54And because Sudhir was looking for this girl, Geeta Rao, and they hadn't found and Svanand Kirkire, you know, at that time was his assistant doing all the auditions and all.
04:06I owe him a lot for working with me and making me give a good audition.
04:10So, that's how it started.
04:12So, honestly, my learning has been, and the one thing that Sudhir told me when I started shooting, because I was so lost, you know, like KK would talk about emotional graphs and characterization and I'm working on this and that.
04:24All actors were so good, you know, and I felt so lost.
04:29So, he's like, that's the best thing, because all you will do in the scene is react.
04:33I don't want you to act.
04:35So, it was such a beautiful thing.
04:37I just hung on to that one line.
04:39And I'm like, OK, so there's nothing missing in me.
04:42There's nothing that I'm lacking.
04:43It's all good, you know.
04:44So, so he he told me that.
04:46And I got a chance to work with Shabana Ji in a film later.
04:49And then I was discussing with her.
04:52So, we were discussing that how I've not gone to, you know, haven't studied acting and all that.
04:56So, I was asking them.
04:57So, you know, that's what Shabana Ji said.
04:59She said the problem with studying acting is that first you learn and then you have to unlearn.
05:04So, she said, you're in the best place because you haven't learned and you won't have to unlearn because it's a longer process.
05:09So, I feel for every actor, it's a process.
05:12So, it's a process.
05:13So, she said, you're in the best place because you haven't learned and you won't have to unlearn because it's a longer process.
05:18So, I feel for every actor, they have their own method, you know, which works for them.
05:24Because personalities are different.
05:26We are emotionally different, you know, like strung differently.
05:29So, I feel that even today I'm as nervous when a scene comes.
05:34I'm just as lost.
05:36I'm being very honest here.
05:38There's no process to it.
05:39The only thing that I feel.
05:41But that's the fun part of it.
05:42That's the fun part of it.
05:44Also, it's an open book in the sense, okay, the director wants this.
05:47Oh, it's written this way.
05:48The writer's done.
05:49The only thing that I try and every time find a slightly newer energy to every character.
05:54If there is, you know, every character has a rhythmic energy.
05:58I think that's the only thing that you learn every time.
06:01So, I don't think I'm unlearning anything.
06:03I think I'm just, yeah, staying as, how do you say, I don't know, vacant every time as possible.
06:10Yeah.
06:16You know, very honestly, I'm starting to think about it now while promoting the show.
06:22Because when we got on to the show, I definitely said, yes, I want to be a part of this.
06:27Because I had seen Bihar Chapter.
06:29I really liked it.
06:30But I, after getting on to the show, not for a second I think it ever crossed my mind that, okay, Bihar Chapter was a big deal.
06:39Like it's one of the most successful shows.
06:41A lot of people across the world have watched it.
06:43So, you're going to be part of a very successful.
06:45It was completely wiped out of my brain.
06:47Because the moment we read the script, we knew how fresh this is.
06:51You know, this world has never been explored before in Hindi cinema.
06:54Even if it has, very minutely, not at this scale, you know.
06:57Nobody's made a seven-hour long documentation about the underbelly of Kolkata.
07:03And so, that, the texture is new.
07:06The characters are new.
07:07There's freshness to the story.
07:08There's freshness to the treatment.
07:09And the people who are making it have such unique perspectives of how they want to show it.
07:13So, it was absolutely wiped out.
07:15But as soon as we started promoting around the release, and now I'm thinking that, Bihar Chapter is a huge show.
07:22People should watch our season.
07:24It's playing now.
07:26But more than anything else, hearing everybody, now that the show is released.
07:29It's trending number one, by the way.
07:31Yeah.
07:32Now that we are hearing these things, we are at peace.
07:39Absolutely.
07:40I mean, we, most of my scenes are with him.
07:45And vice versa.
07:46Most of the scenes are with me.
07:48So, we created our own thing.
07:51And again, most of it was not planned.
07:53It happened because we were in the process and we were involved.
07:56We were in it.
07:57And hence, there was a very interesting language that we kind of developed between us.
08:04Which translated in the show as well.
08:07So, yes, definitely.
08:09I mean, yesterday, he couldn't come in one of the activities.
08:12And I was telling him that in this space, in Khaki space, I just felt lost because you were not there.
08:16So, because, I mean, we have been in it for more than a year.
08:20We have been working on Khaki.
08:24So, in this project, for this particular thing, it's like things are incomplete if he is not there.
08:28So, we developed that kind of language together.
08:30But again, working with the names that you are taking.
08:34We are talking about Jeeta, Shashwattha, Prasanjita.
08:36These guys are such amazing people.
08:38They are not just fantastic actors.
08:40But they are also such humble human beings.
08:42And they have such strong brotherly energy.
08:45Yeah.
08:46They are always there to guide, to help.
08:48Very secure.
08:49Very secure.
08:50Very relaxed.
08:51Very helpful.
08:52You know, when we are shooting the scenes together.
08:54So, they are taking care of us also.
08:56And, you know, I have a shot.
08:58So, sitting there and giving their cues.
09:00And performing there also when they are not in front of the camera.
09:03So, I mean, per se, I did not feel the need of having a safe space like that.
09:10Because the overall space was very safe, secured and fun.
09:15But yeah, definitely because Hrithik and I have that kind of bond which is beyond just Sagar and Ranjeet.
09:23But it's also Adil and Hrithik.
09:25So, yeah, that can't be compared.
09:28And very ironically, because throughout the show, our characters also were like it's us against the world.
09:34It's the two of us versus everybody.
09:36So, when you are carrying that mind space, you also happen to in between takes just stay in your bubble.
09:42The two of us only used to spend time with each other.
09:45It is them who made the effort to come forward, befriend us, make us comfortable.
09:50Because when you work with stalwarts, the first thing in your head is that you don't know what to do.
09:59But it was them who took the first step, who made us so comfortable.
10:03Who also respected the fact that they want to be in this mind space.
10:06Gave us that space.
10:07It's beautiful.
10:08The way they function, even ma'am, the way all of them function, it's mind blowing.
10:13So much to learn.