Bengali superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee has successfully shifted his focus from mainstream potboilers to more serious cinema in the last decade and is happy that Bollywood superstars like Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan are now looking at content-based films.
The 53-year-old actor has ruled the Bengali film industry for the past three decades and having starred in more than 350 films and he says what drives him now is the need to be part of projects in which content is the king.
"Mainstream cinema will always be there. I am what I am because of the mainstream cinema. But I think the time has come when actors are looking for good content. Even superstars like Salman Khan is doing a film like 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan', Shah Rukh is doing 'Fan', which is an acting based film. Akshay is doing something like 'Airlift'," Prosenjit told PTI.
"The change has begun. Mainstream actors are doing some good work and even young actors are choosing content. If cinema is good then people start talking about it. Today's generation wants entertainment but with it they also desire good content," he said.
Prosenjit, whose last Hindi film outing was Dibakar Banerjee's 2012 film "Shanghai", is gearing up for the release of his upcoming Bollywood project "Traffic" directed by late filmmaker Rajesh Pillai, which also stars Manoj Bajpayee, Jimmy Shergill, Sachin Khedekar and Divya Dutta.
The Bengali superstar says "Traffic" is a special film as it stars actors from not just from Bollywood but also talents from Marathi, Bengali and Punjabi industry.
"'Traffic' is a combination of all great actors and every character is important in its own way. Manoj is one of the finest actors in the Hindi film industry, Sachin is doing fantastic work in Marathi cinema, Jimmy is also very big in the Punjabi film industry."
"Traffic" will hit theatres on May 6.
Prosenjit feels filmmakers should take a cue from
projects like "Traffic" and make movies with good talents from all regions of the country.
"It is the way forward. I have been telling this for a long time. Whether it is Bengali or Hindi. There are lot of talents all over India. I think it is a great combination to have different actors come together for a project and give their best. 'Traffic' is one such film," he said.
In "Traffic" Prosenjit plays a character very close to what he is in real life - a superstar. The film is a remake of the 2011 Malayalam film of same name and the actor says he loved the original film and immediately said yes when he was offered the Hindi version.
"It was one film that came to me after 'Shanghai'. I watched the remake and I thought it was a great issue-based film. There were a lot of good actors in the film and I thought I should do it. My role is that of a superstar. I really liked my character."
The actor praised Pillai, who passed away in February, saying the late filmmaker never compromised on the project. Even though he had a language problem, he put all his hard work into making the film perfect.
"He was a wonderful guy, very young and with a lot of enthusiasm. The Hindi language was a problem for him, but he never compromised on anything. When he was in the hospital he would tell me that he would come back. It is very unfortunate that the film is releasing and he is not here. We will miss him."
Prosenjit has just finished dubbing another Hindi film "3 Dev", which also stars Kay Kay Menon and Kunaal Kapoor. The actor says he is open to more Hindi films and his only condition is that the project should be backed by a good an engaging story.
"Of course, I am interested Hindi films, in good work. It is not always a big banner film. I am looking for good meaningful cinema.
