Eccentric characters are fun to play: Ritwick Chakraborty

Many of us regret the choices we made in our youth, but not actor Ritwick Chakraborty. Nearly 20 years ago, when he began acting in Bengali serials, he imagined himself better suited to playing villains. He felt his unconventional looks would prevent directors in Bengal from considering him as a hero.

In 2007, he debuted in the mainstream commercial Bengali film ‘Pagal Premi’. But it didn’t take long for Ritwick to realise that such films weren’t for him. After all, he was never an audience for commercial masala films and so, he knew he wasn’t cut out to act in them either.

Looking back today, Ritwick feels he made the right call. “I was content working in TV when the offer for ‘Pagal Premi’ came my way. That film paved my entry into Bengali cinema. But I knew I couldn’t be part of such mainstream masala movies. If I could speak to my younger self now, I’d tell him he was right to take that risky decision back then,” said Ritwick, one of the most versatile actors of Bengali contemporary cinema.

For Ritwick, it has never been about genre, but about the depth of a character. Whether leading or supporting, what matters to him is whether he can add something meaningful to the narrative. Like the cop he played in ‘Mrigaya’ or the lawyer in ‘Advocate Achinta Aich’. He admitted that he wasn’t sure the first season of Joydeep Mukherjee’s series would resonate so much with audiences. But viewers loved him as the underconfident yet honest and resilient lawyer. The last time he reprised a role twice was in the web series ‘Gora’.

“When a series gets a second season, you know the audience has connected with it. So, we also try to raise our game,” said the ‘Shabdo’ actor. In season two of ‘Advocate Achinta Aich’, his character defends a man accused of raping and murdering a minor.

So, is it more intense this time? “If the first season was about introducing the characters, season two fleshes them out. This time, it’s a POSCO case. But viewers will also see how Achinta’s love life has progressed,” he laughed.

From award-winning American dramas like ‘Suits’ to Bollywood hits like ‘Jolly LLB’ and ‘Mulk’ and Hindi web shows like ‘Criminal Justice’, ‘Maamla Legal Hai’ or ‘The Trial’, legal dramas have always found audiences. But Ritwick isn’t much of a fan of legal shows. For him, the script is his only guide and he draws traits from it to shape his characters. Still, does he have a soft spot for eccentric roles like ‘Achinta Aich’, ‘Gora’, ‘Mr Kolketa’, ‘Vinci Da’ or Shombhu Baba in ‘Abar Proloy’?

Ritwick laughed and replied, “I think directors just see me fitting into such roles. But honestly, eccentric characters are a lot of fun to play,” smiled the actor of ‘Binisutoy’ and ‘Mayar Jonjal’.

He has just wrapped up Pratim D Gupta’s Bengali web series, where he stars alongside Sohini Sarkar. The duo has also teamed up again for Pritha Chakraborty’s ‘Phera’. Ritwick is particularly excited about this project, which also brings veteran Bollywood actor Sanjay Mishra into the Bengali film fold.

Photo Credit: Gautam Bose