Actor Saswata Chatterjee, who enthralled movie goers as Commander Manas in the Deepika Padukone-starrer Kalki 2898 AD, has now taken on a role that was previously played by Bengali screen icon Uttam Kumar.
Saswata portrayed P.K. Basu, a larger-than-life lawyer detective, in the ZEE5 Global web series Kaantaye Kaantaye. The seires, which premiered on August 15, is based on Narayan Sanyal’s ‘Sonar Kanta’.
Uttam Kumar had played Basu in the 1974-thriller Jadi Jantem.
In an exclusive chat with Connected to India’s Himanshu Verma, Saswata said it was challenging for him to play the role since it was previously played by the ‘Mahanayak’ of Bengali cinema.
“We all know (about) his image on screen. So, that’s why it was a bit difficult for me, but I stopped thinking about Uttam Kumar and did what was needed for the role according to the script.”
Adding that he was nervous in the beginning, the actor said, “You can’t go ahead if you think too much about Uttam Kumar. To be a person of the stature of Uttam Kumar on screen, it’s legendary. So, I stopped thinking about him and just went ahead.”
Created by filmmaker and actor Joydeep Mukherjee, ‘Kaantaye Kaantaye’ also stars National Award-winner Ananya Chatterjee as Rani Basu, and OTT debutant Soham Chakraborty in pivotal roles.
The actor told CtoI that having a good set of co-actors is a prerequisite for a web series, which run for episodes.
Watch the full interview below.
