Recalling how mentally exhausting it was to come out of the self of 'Kushal Hazra', the present day 'incarnation' of 'Anthony Phiringee' in Srijit Mukherjee's Jaatiswar after every shot, superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee says for days he stayed back even after shoot.
"For days together I used to lay on bed on the floor, switch off the lights and just dozed off as it took hours to come to my own normal self. And before shooting I had told Srijit we need to give three-four weeks to flesh out the character," Prosenjit told PTI at the screening of Jaatiswar.
"I felt mentally drenched after every such shot. Remember the scene where I touched the feet of Jishu's character. It was graphed previously with little cuts and done in just one take," Prosenjit, happy with the adulation from the audience, said.
"Enacting a fight scene physically perhaps would have been easier," he said.
Recalling that the character of Kushal Hazra did not have any reference point, Prosenjit said "It is a rare case in present day to work without any reference point. The character was envisaged by Srijit first and then we worked it out in sessions and we consulted leading psychiatrists."
Concurring that he had portrayed the 'Aam Admi' ranging from 'Chalo Paltai', Hanuman.Com to the 'culmination' point as Kushal in Jaatiswar, Prosenjit said, "It was not effortless to cruise from one era to another.
"Portraying yesteryears Hensman Anthony was perhaps easier than the present day Kushal Hazra but again for the Portugese origin-Bengali poet I had to keep aside any trait or characteristic perfected by Uttam Kumar and even some mannerism of Lalon Fokir in 'Moner Manush' though Lalon was plebian and Anthony more regal," the actor said.
"For shooting the phase covering Anthony's life we had to go back to the era of dhoti and people sitting on floor to enjoy a musical soiree. My interpretation of the Portugese-origin 'kobial' took into account all these factors," the 'Baishe Srabon' star said.
"Finshing the film was no less than a cathartic experience. You feel a lot of mental solitude after such a role - a troubled commoner with emotions playing on his face and a famous 'kabial'" Prosenjit said.
Finding solace into such roles as Kushal-Anthony in Jaatiswar, Prosenjit said, "I have now been accepted by the audience. If I can do larger-than-life Mahendra in Chokher Bali why can't down-to-earth ones.
