The ‘Mumbai calling’ is almost an over-hyped celebratory summon in India, like how ‘moving abroad’ is for Indians. The ‘merge’ amongst ‘Indians’ is OK; the celebration of ‘global divulgence’ is also OK, but what’s not OK is glorifying it as the only medium to success. Because when you do that, you often become delirious between ‘being humble’ and ‘being timid.’
It is not deriding the ‘dreams’ or the ‘city of dreams’. There definitely is a reason why the city is named like that, and it’s to herald ‘those’ who led the town ‘Of Mumbai’ to become where it is today, making it a ‘big deal’ for every ‘dreamer’ out there. Known for its glam and, of course, ‘Bollywood.’ the city holds an extraordinary place in all our hearts.
However, the dilemma that most Indians who live out of the city hold is what remains buffooning. And this time, it is ‘Bengalis’, and because the focus is on entertainment, it’s the Bengal actors who are in the quest to make it ‘big’ in the city Bombay-Bollywood. So the question is, why in Bollywood? And not in Bengal before?
Who do we blame? The artists? No! Artists should never be accused; they do not hold any tags of tribes, religions or communities. The call is on that ‘those’, mentioned in the afore lines. Who failed to make a ‘difference’ in the state, or even better ‘, failed to (try),’ which is propelling the ‘artists’ and other young minds to migrate.
If you look upon the list of actors from Bengal who have blossomed to earn it big in Bollywood, mostly got ‘timid’ out from the cast (not saying the movies were spectacular either), almost toasting to an ‘identity crisis’. Fair to call it ‘side-lining.’
Let us hand you some instances:
Parambrata Chatterjee
In each film that he has done, starting from Kahaani to Bulbul, the actor did not get explored. With the ‘less in-depth’ characterisations in each, even with the dull screenplays, it becomes disappointing in a space. Of course, we understand the stories surrounding a particular narrative, but that doesn’t justify the ‘ill-exploration’ of such amazing actors.
Anirban Bhattacharya
He made headlines with Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway. He catered his work grand but was again less explored in the movie. We know the film is about the mother Rani portrayed, but there was a space to add more layers to Anirban’s character as the male protagonist, the child’s father.
You might say, but Rani Mukerji is a Bengali too, but then there should not be this hype. ‘Rani speaking in Bengali was ‘sweet’. Bengali speaking Bengali, how is that even glamorous? It became ‘glamourous’ because it is a predominant actor from ‘Bollywood’ who speaks Bengali.
Jisshu Sengupta
Remember his role in the movie Mardaani and Mardaani 2? We cannot even count on Mardaani 2, though! What was even the purpose of his role in the film?
Another one, Durgamati! The fun part is that the movie had a Bengali character, “Satakshi Ganguly”, the CBI joint director, portrayed by Mahie Gill. And Jisshu Sengupta, a Bengali actor, remains unexplored as Abhay Singh.
Paoli Dam
She debuted with the movie ‘Hate Story.’ Paoli is a terrific actor; no wonder her skills were hailed after the movie’s release. But what a terrible screenplay to start with! Or in Ankur Arora Murder Case, the film did not work out, though. In the recent 2020 movie Bulbul, her character remains unexplored and sabotaged.
Rituparna Sengupta
The only movie we could celebrate on the list is Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh. But, apart from that, no one could delve into her artistry if we start from Do Knot Disturb to Main Osama to Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji.
Saswata Chatterjee
We loved how Saswata Chatterjee got hailed for his fantastic work as Bob Biswas in Kahaani, but only to be replaced by Abhishek Bachchan in the film ‘Bob Biswas’, which originally got its ‘validation’ owing to Saswata’s performance. Then, however, the director Diya Annapurna Ghosh chose to go with Abhishek Bachchan for the role.
So, was the shift made to be able to ‘fit in’ Bollywood? We hope it is a ‘No.’ However, we loved how Saswata Chatterjee embraced it with a big heart.
Swastika Mukherjee
She showcased how to be ‘humble’ and not ‘timid’ and instead be resilient. Making a difference with Pataal Lok, the actress made a celebratory call with Qala. With every screen presence she made with time, she proved how to play with the ‘pause’ and not rush to ‘fit in.’
It is crucial to know your ‘worth’ and what values you bring to the table, while you should ‘ask’ for what you ‘deserve’ but not ‘devalue’ yourself.