Exclusive! Kaushik Ganguly talks about sharing the screen with Anirban Bhattacharya in Tiktiki

Tiktiki is a play based on the adaptation of a play, Sleuth. Written originally by Anthony Shaffer, the play was further adapted by various productions. The adapted version was set in Kolkata and was supposed to be performed by Utpal Dutt and Soumitra Chatterjee in the late 70s but Utpal Dutt couldn’t be a part of it. Later, Uttam Kumar was also approached but since he was unavailable due to his busy schedule, it never shaped into reality. Finally, in 1995, a theatre group, Swapnasandhani staged the two-act production and a masterpiece was created on stage

The play has now been adapted for a show, where two of the most brilliant performers, Kaushik Ganguly and Anirban Bhattacharya will be seen sharing the screen. Dhrubo Banerjee has directed the show and it will be premiered on Hoichoi on March 18. Ahead of its launch, OTTplay caught up with the multiple National Award-winning director and the lead actor of the show, Kaushik Ganguly. Ganguly plays the role of a writer of detective novels, Soumendra Krishna Deb, in this Dhrubo Banerjee's directorial. Ganguly opened up about his experience, working on the web series.

Excerpts:

Please tell us about Tiktiki.

It's one of my favourite plays and I have seen it at least on three occasions. Kaushik Sen and Soumitra Chatterjee created magic on stage. As a director, I had a kind of a secret wish to do this myself. I researched about it as well but I was caught up in so many different things and somehow, it never happened. Dhrubo Banerjee, director of Tiktiki, was a member of the theatre group called, SwopnoSondhani and he was delegated with the task of managing the set entirely. I can recall pretty clearly that it was a very tough job. Right from mounting the set, managing the controlled blasts, removing the set, each and every detail played a very crucial role while staging Tiktiki and Dhrubo managed everything almost singlehandedly. Tiktiki had a very detailed set and it was a tough thing to pull off during the late 90s, yet he managed to do it somehow. Later, he went on to become a successful director himself and he chose Tiktiki to do the web show, which was once his baby.

It’s more of a homecoming project I would say. But when Dhrubo approached me for the role of Soumendra Krishna Deb I was a bit sceptical for two reasons. Firstly, the process of adapting a play into a show is rather an uphill task, however, when I read the script I was convinced completely. Secondly, I was about to step into a mammoth shoe that once belonged to the master of the craft, Mr. Soumitra Chatterjee. The audience will subconsciously or otherwise constantly compare me with the stalwart and that’s definitely not a happy place for any performer.

However, during the process, I realised that the image he created of this character is going to be very different from mine. Soumitra Chatterjee had an almost heavenly presence with his gracious looks and performance. But the moment I would appear, the audience will spot the difference and the comparison will lose momentum. It’s not a period piece, Tiktiki speaks to 2022.

We had that in our mind and in order to achieve that relevance, Dhrubo gave complete liberty to every performer and I learned a great deal from him.

Tell us about your insight into Soumendra Krishna Deb’s character.

Soumendra Krishna Deb is not a sane individual and I had this in my mind while portraying him. However, I was trying not to inform his character about his insanity because if he’s conscious about his condition, he might go overboard. I had to be careful. You can’t tell a clown or a comic about his purpose or else the manipulation or effort might surface. Similarly, I treated Tiktiki like a game, the excitement around it, the hullabaloo surrounding it. I was constantly trying to hit that spot. It’s like a series of deceitful, cunning, quirky yet rewarding mind games where we wait for the rounds to get over. Meanwhile, we tried to generate that very exciting, yet deadly game and captured it.

It was shot in a palatial palace of Kashipur Rajbari and Dhrubo has an advertising background, so he utilised his special skillset and finished the whole schedule within a very limited period of time. I would also like to add that the art director did a really great job with the palace.


You are a multiple National Award-winning director, a bonafide captain of his own ship. But in this series, as an actor, you turned in to your director. Which one do you prefer the most?

I love acting and I like making movies but having said that, I must add that whenever I’m on the set, I restrain myself from watching the monitor (laughs). I don’t need that unwanted commotion while I’m about to deliver my lines so I switch off my director’s eye and follow my directors’ instructions obediently (laughs). It’s his show and if he’s satisfied with a certain take, then who am I to question or doubt about its credibility. I don’t entertain intruders and I don’t intend to be one. As an actor, I only revisit my takes if I can’t recall my actions perfectly and the purpose is solely technical. I was pitted against the brightest actor of this generation, Anirban Bhattacharya, and I was trying to deliver my best as an actor. He’s a very informed, organised, disciplined actor and on the other hand, I’m a most disorganised actor because predominantly, I’m into the direction but I love acting, so I perform occasionally.

The audience loved your performances whenever you decided to opt for acting and your work as a director speaks for itself. The Indian film stories are changing with the times, the narratives are getting more relatable and far more believable. What do you think about this new wave?

I do strongly believe that it’s the age of character actors and directors and if you have a story that encapsulates the essence of a common man or woman, it will strike a chord if it’s recreated properly. The cinema of today speaks the language of the society which is entangled in a collision, dipped in misery, yet it has core simplistic honest moral values. It’s not afraid to face the reality and that’s a huge metamorphosis from ‘Damsel in distress’ narratives. The audience nowadays has stopped asking about the star cast rather they ask about the name of the director and today, Prasenjit Chatterjee is recognised not as a hero but as a character actor. The audience is responsible for bringing this groundbreaking change and it’s here to stay. It’s not a goofy, temporary trend. If you’re not an actor, the audience today will simply refuse you. And our generation of directors started telling brand new stories which touched upon the universe of marginalised people, defied social taboos, illicit affairs and many more. We, as makers, are not afraid because we brought these changes together and we will continue to hammer it. An actor like Tulsi Chakraborty was never given his due for his brilliant performance in Parash Pathar but today, filmmakers cast me as a lead protagonist in films like Kedara, Sankar Mudi. I believe that Indian cinema will continue on its journey riding upon this accelerating wave and the audience is going to love every bit of it.