Exclusive! Saibal Mitra on A Holy Conspiracy: Watching Soumitra Chatterjee and Naseeruddin Shah performing together is a delight

Saibal Mitra’s A Holy Conspiracy is all set to release on July 29. The film features Soumitra Chatterjee and Naseeruddin Shah debating each other in the courtroom drama. Besides, the film also stars Anashua Majumdar, Shraman, Amrita Chatterjee, Kaushik Sen, and others. In an exclusive chat with OTTplay, the director talks about his experience of working with the two doyens and a lot more.  

In the film, Soumitra Chatterjee plays the Prosecuting Attorney and Naseeruddin, Defense Attorney. They debate over the faith and education system. Talking about their performance, Saibal declares, “Watching the two doyens acting right in front of us was a delight. This film will be archived because it features two giants of our time.”

While elaborating on the two doyens at work, Saibal explains, “I have worked with Soumitrada before. When we were shooting, he was not very well and could not work more than four hours. His health was our priority. Meanwhile, it is my first work with Naseerji. I first spoke to him over the phone and he was interested. When we started shooting, I was pleasantly surprised. He is the most prepared artiste I have ever worked with. He is always on time. He knows every bit of his dialogues. He is done with his makeup and costume right on time. His professionalism is outstanding.”

A Holy Conspiracy started as a Bengali film. However, it is because of Naseeruddin Shah’s dialogues, that the dialogues are changed in English. “It still has Bengali dialogues. However, the Censor board has identified it as an English film because the majority of the dialogues are in English,” says the director. 

The film also delves into the deep socio-political bigotry over faith in India. The trailer shows a teacher is being tried for not teaching The Holy Bible in class. Instead, the teacher insists on teaching science and math. “The film questions bigotry. It doesn’t take any political side but talks about freedom of speech. When we started planning the film, even when we shot the film, the socio-political scenario of the country was not as sensitive as it is today. I hope my film is watched in the right spirit. We don’t want any unnecessary attention. My film is not partisan. It is like a parable and it is relatable,” says Saibal.