With his towering height, chiselled features and a baritone, most girls had a major crush on him when he made his debut in the romantic film Tum Bin back in 2001. After that, Priyanshu Chatterjee only managed some cameos in Dil Ka Rishta, Pinjar, Bhootnatha and a few forgettable solo-hero projects. In 2010, he turned towards the vernacular cinema and got some immensely meaty roles in critically-acclaimed films in Bengali. After a long draught, he is seen playing an interesting role in the film, Rajdhani Express, that also marks Leander Paes’ acting debut. We caught up with the actor at the red carpet premiere of the film recently held in the capital.
“I portray the role of a Bengali scriptwriter, BC Bannerjee, who thinks he is super intelligent but most of his works are highly plagiarised. Also, he considers himself very smart and courageous, but as the plot unveils, it is quite clear that he is maha-fattoo and gets immensely intimidated by the events happening around him,” says the 39-year old actor, dressed suavely in a brown leather jacket and his semi-nerdy eye-gear. Rajdhani Express, which releases today is a socio-political drama that unfolds through a train journey.
Talking about his lack of presence in Bollywood he says, “I am not getting very interesting scripts. So as and when I do get something, I take it up. Also in Bengali cinema, I am getting to work with the likes of Gautam Ghosh, Aparna Sen and other stalwarts. Although the scale of regional cinema is smaller than Bollywood, they take up experimental topics, do films based on literature and present a wide array of stories.”
He was seen recently seen in Panch Adhyay with Dia Mirza. He is going to be sharing the screen with Konkona Sen Sharma for Shunyo Awnko
Priyanshu Chatterjee is candid about his Bollywood film career. “As of now, the only project I have lined up for release is Main, Rony aur Joni. I do have scripts for consideration. Till then, I hope that people like my performance in Rajdhani Express,” he concludes.