The upcoming film 'Kishore Kumar Junior' is dedicated to the thousands of gifted lesser-known singers, who never get a new identity, and are only referred to as voices of popular singers, actor Prosenjit Chatterjee, who plays the titular role, has said.
'Kishore Kumar Junior', scheduled to be released on October 12, has been directed by film maker Kaushik Ganguly, a multiple national award winner.
Chatterjee said he easily got into the skin of the lead character of the film because as a film star, he had to croon Kishore Kumar's Bengali chartbuster 'Chirodini Tumi Je Amar', at various musical soirees till date.
"I have always been asked to sing 'Chirodini Tumi Je Amar', from the 1987 hit till date 'Amar Sangi', by the audience across Bengal and other places, during stage performances.
"It was a Kishore Kumar number and so in a sense whenever I belt out his playback numbers on the stage, I don the hat of a 'Kishore Konthi', a singer who solely renders the popular tracks of a singing legend at various functions," Chatterjee said here recently.
In short, such singers are known as 'Konthis', and they eke out a living by singing the tracks of a particular singer only, the director of the film Kaushik Ganguly said.
Chatterjees character is loosely based on Gautam Ghosh, a 'Kishore Konthi', who was a much sought-after singer in the state during the 80s and 90s, Ganguly said.
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"Being such a committed actor as he is, Bumba (as Prosenjit is called in the Bengali film industry), watched the performance of many 'Kishore Konthis', including Gautam Ghosh after downloading the videos on you tube, after he was approached for the role.
"In certain scenes of live performances at functions in the film, he is just amazing, mixing traits of a performer and singer on stage," Ganguly said.
Asked if the film is based on the life and career of 'Kishore Konthi' Gautam Ghosh, Ganguly replied in the negative.
"But it was inspired by some significant events in Gautam Ghosh's career as a popular 'Kishore Konthi' in the 80s and 90s," he said.
Ganguly said that before going on the floors, he had discussions with Gautam Ghosh about his experiences at different functions, in order to add realistic elements to the film.
Kumar Sanu has lent his voice to the songs lip-synced by Prosenjit Chatterjee.
"When I was lip-syncing to the tracks I followed certain traits of Sanu," Chatterjee said.
All songs in the film are situational, he added.
Actress Aparajita Auddy and actor Rajesh Sharma are starring in the film as well.