PremiumExclusive! Sujoy Prosad on Belashuru: The Bengali film fraternity loves to portray me as a gay man
According to the actor, he brings aspiration to the character and the industry uses that
Last Updated: 04.11 PM, May 24, 2022
Multidisciplinary artiste Sujoy Prosad Chatterjee has said that the character Bijon is destined to be gay in Belashuru. Directed by Shiboprosad Chatterjee and Nandita Roy, Belashuru is a continuation of their 2015-film Bela Seshe with almost the same set of characters. In both the films, Sujoy Prosad plays the character of Bijon, who is the husband of Mili (Rituparna Sengupta) and son-in-law of Arati (Swatilekha Sengupta) and Bishwanath (Soumitra Chatterjee). While Bela Seshe does not indicate any sexual orientation of Bijon, he is identified as a gay man who was forced by his family to get married to Mili in Belashuru. In the film, they share a strong friendship.
“While watching the film I realised that it is the obvious destiny of Bijon. I could relate to the friendship that develops between Mili and Bijon,” Sujoj Prosad, who identifies himself as a queer man, told exclusively to OTTPlay. “The Bengali film fraternity loves to portray me as a gay man because they think I bring liberation and aspiration to the character. This happened in Srijit Mukherji’s Shah Jahan Regency also. People still talk about my character,” he added.
Talking about his experience of shooting with Swatilekha and Soumitra, the actor said, “It was nothing short of an acting masterclass for me. I keenly watched their expression, eye movements, muscle movements and body language. I am grateful that I could observe them so closely and personally. Besides, I also learnt a lot from Shankarda (Chakraborty, who plays Barin) and Rituparna. Shankarda’s character is not very expressive and he does a brilliant job. There is so much to learn.”
Belashuru was shot in 2018 and was scheduled to release in 2020. However, the release got postponed because of the pandemic. Sujoy Prosad is currently working in Aritra Sen’s Shohorer Ushnotomo Dine as a stylist. “This is a new experience for me and I am putting my best foot forward,” Sujoy told us.