Premendu Bikash Chaki: You cannot become a pilot and fly a plane overnight. Similarly, you can’t become a filmmaker just like that

Premendu Bikash Chaki’s Paka Dekha will be released on September 2. Billed as a family drama the film features Susmita Chatterjee and Soham Chakraborty. Along with the duo, there are veteran actors Laboni Sarkar, Dipankar dey, Sumanta Mukherjee, Kharaj Mukhopadhyay and Dolon Roy. Before the release, the director talked to OTTplay about the state of the Bengali film industry. 

Premendu Bikash said that filmmaking is a serious business that needs training. “Like the way you cannot just do surgery like a doctor or fly an airplane like a pilot, you cannot just become a filmmaker one fine morning. It needs training and understanding. You will need to know how to tell a story,” he said, adding that the producers also need to understand where to invest. 

The director also pointed out that the number of films released in Bengal is higher than the demand for films. “I feel there is no parity of demand and supply of films in Bengal,” he said. He further explained that in a time when there used to be more than 450 cinema halls (single screen and multiplexes), approximately 40-42 films used to be released per year. “Out of those films, seven-eight films used to be good. Now, the number of screens has gone down to around 170 and we are seeing a release of more than 100 films. The number of quality films is still stuck at seven to eight. Hence the supply of films is more than the demand.”

Talking about Paka Dekha, Premendu Bikash said that he has made the film for single-screen theatres. “I have made it for the people who are ready to pay Rs 60-70. I don’t know how many people may want to or can afford to pay Rs 160-180 for films in general. I want common middle-class people to enjoy my film,” he said.