Atanu Ghosh,who has helmed over 75 documentaries and directed the critically-acclaimed and award-winning Angshumaner Chhobi,is ready with his second venture Takhan Teish What does Takhan Teish refer to?Takhan Teish means,Then,23, which refers to my protagonist,Tamodeep,a brilliant doctor caught between a web of memories and how he looks at his past. The film opens when he is 27 and looks back with changed perceptions about life,relationships and the women in his life when he was 23 years old and something dramatic happened to redirect the journey of his life. Jisshu Sengupta,who I consider to be a very talented and industrious actor,plays Tamodeep. The film spans four years in Tamodeeps life. But the main action takes place when he is 23. Do you believe that the reasonable commercial and critical success of your first film has firmly anchored you within Bengali cinema?Not really. I am very happy with the success of my first film,true. But that is hardly enough to establish a filmmaker firmly within the threshold of Bengali cinema. It would depend on how the audience,the exhibitors,the producers respond to ones body of work. If that garners positive response,then perhaps a director can claim that he has found anchorage in films. You have been a journalist with a reputed English daily of Kolkata. What made you quit?After my Masters,I qualified as a journalist because my first love at that time,was writing and I have a good command over English. Even when I was schooling in Allahabad,I used to contribute to The Statesman and to the Northern Indian Patrika. But the germ of cinema had slowly seeped into my system when I was doing my Higher Secondary examinations. I did the F.A. Course at the NFAI in Pune while working as a journalist in Kolkata. When I came back,I did a documentary on scientist Satyen Bose. My father,a professor of Physics in Calcutta University,produced the film and also helped in gaining permission from Science College. The film was telecast on Doordarshan. There are four women in Tamodeeps life. What roles do they play in his life?When Tamodeep is 23,within a brief span of 48 hours,his life changes dramatically. He is destined to come face to face with four women Sraboni,his mother,Meghna,his teacher,Sriparna,his friend from a social networking site and Mohini who comes from a shelter home and makes it big as a noted singer. These four women are representative of the four emotions of affection,infatuation,lust,friendship and love. It is the story of the coming of age of a sensitive young boy into adulthood. In what genre would you categorise this film?The film moves through the course of a tremendously fast paced psychological thriller that involves suspense,crime,sex and emotion. It is targeted at contemporary young men and women,modern youth addicted to internet,ipods and mobile phones in their jet-speed journey through life and relationships that alternates between a newfound world of fantasy and the harsh old world of reality. In most of your telefilms,you explore the finer nuances of interpersonal human relationships and yet weave them with an element of suspense. Can you explain this fascination?Placing my characters in tricky situations and watching them react to and in these situations gives me tremendous enjoyment. That is why I always tinge my stories with an element of psychological suspense. This gives me the scope for exploring several genres within one - romance,sex,fear,death,suspense,mystery,and the works. Tamodeep is brilliant,but an introvert and therefore,alone. He is destined to encounter a life-changing experience within a span of 48 hours as he comes face to face with a varied range of emotions relating to man-woman relationship. Who are playing the four women?Tanusree Shankar plays Tamodeeps mother Sraboni with whom he has had a rather difficult relationship over the past six years when the film opens. Meghna has been his teacher when he was young and Tamodeep depends on her morally though they are not in touch for some years directly. Indrani Halder,a very old friend of mine who I have a wonderful relationship with as friend and colleague,plays Meghna. Aparajita Ghosh Das,a very familiar face on television,performs the role of Sriparna,a slightly eccentric will-o-the-wisp girl who dates Tamodeep briefly. Mohini is his muse. Paoli Dam is Mohini,Tamodeeps muse in the film. Rajatavo Dutta plays a very important role in the film as well. Who is your greatest influence in cinema?There is just one name - Satyajit Ray.
