Grew up watching SRK’s films: Vikram Chatterjee

As someone who grew up watching the king of romance, Shah Rukh Khan, Bengali actor Vikram Chatterjee always nurtured a deep desire to do a love story on the big screen. When director Aritra Sen offered him a coming-of-age Bengali love story, ‘Sohorer Ushnotomo Dine’, Vikram instantly agreed. “I have grown up watching Shah Rukh spreading his arms and romancing actresses. So, when I became an actor, I always wanted to do a romantic film someday. ‘Sohorer Ushnotomo Dine’ came to me at the perfect time,” he said.

Vikram is one of the Bengali actors who saw humongous success on TV. Be it ‘Saat Paake Bandha’, ‘Ichche Nodee’ or ‘Phagun Bou’, the actor became the heartthrob of Bengali TV in no time. It was ‘Ichche Nodee’ that made Vikram and Solanki Roy (lead actress of ‘Sohorer Ushnotomo Dine’) household names. Though the pair is back on screen after a hiatus of six years, the chemistry remains as captivating as ever. “When I was offered ‘Sohorer Ushnotomo Dine’, the female lead was still undecided. Solanki was busy with her TV show. But when she joined the film, it was like reliving the old times,” said Vikram, who won rave reviews for his performance in Atanu Ghosh’s ‘Shesh Pata’.

Vikram found ‘Sohorer Ushnotomo Dine’ very relatable. “This film is a love letter to Kolkata, the city we grew up in. The moments and relationships depicted on the screen will resonate deeply with the audience,” he said.

Even during his commitments to TV shows, Vikram always made it a priority to find time for films and web series. He has worked with a slew of established directors, including the late Bappaditya Bandopadhyay, Pratim D Gupta, Anik Dutta and Mainak Bhaumik, to name a few. “I had a good experience dabbling in TV and films, but when you play a lead character on TV, it is difficult to concentrate much on other things. I wanted to grow and explore as an actor. TV was the first platform I got and it gave me my identity, but the actor in me wanted more. So, I decided to take a break from TV and concentrate on films and web series,” he said.

Up next, Vikram will start shooting for Arindam Bhattacharya’s ‘Durgapur Junction’ with Swastika Mukherjee. Then there’s Tathagata Mukherjee’s ‘Pariah’, a film about street dogs, which he considers ‘close to his heart’. Vikram had to undergo a rigorous physical transformation to look the part in ‘Pariah’.

“My love for animals was one of the driving factors to do the film. Also, I was looking forward to working with a director like Tathagata,” said the actor, whose outings on OTT like ‘Tansener Tanpura’, ‘Rudrabinar Obhishaap’ and ‘Roktokorobi’ found appreciation too.

Ask him about his desire to turn his 2017 psychological thriller ‘Khoj’ into a franchise and the actor immediately said, “I always thought ‘Khoj’ has the potential to become a franchise. However, director Arka Ganguly has several commitments on TV at present. But I would like to become a part of the ‘Khoj’ franchise.”