After the massive success of “Aynabaji” and his groundbreaking performance, it was interesting to see what Chanchal Chowdhury did next. The seasoned actor, arguably at the peak of his career, chose another iconic character to follow up Sharafat Karim Ayna – that of Humayun Ahmed's immortal Misir Ali. Anam Biswas is bringing one of the best stories of the Misir Ali series, “Debi” to the silver screen, produced by Jaya Ahsan's C Te Cinema. Jaya also plays a leading role in the film, along with Iresh Zaker, Sabnam Faria and Animesh Aich. In a recent conversation with The Daily Star, Chanchal shared his motivation behind choosing the role and the kind of work that went into bringing the character to life. Excerpts:
“After 'Aynabaji', I took a break, because nothing really drew me, from the lots of film offers that came my way. I thought hard about what I wanted to do next."
“I took three months to decide whether to act in 'Debi'. There are two reasons behind acting in the film. Firstly, after the success of 'Aynabaji', I knew my next work had to be spectacular. Humayun Ahmed has taken contemporary Bangla literature to new heights, and Misir Ali and Himu are two of his most famous characters. It eventually made sense to sign the project. Secondly, the audience always has a high expectation from artistes like us. It was also that sense of responsibility that made me sign up for it."
“There were two big challenges for the movie. Firstly, it is a film being made with government funding, so the budget is tight. Everyone has to make sacrifices. Second, the audience's expectations from me now are skyrocketing after 'Aynabaji'. If I fail this, it will seriously affect my career. This is a big challenge."
"Anyone who has read Misir Ali stories has a mental image of him. To make a character matching that image was also a challenge. In 'Aynabaji' they have seen me in a number of avatars. I also have to shake off those images from the viewer's mind, and that's tricky.
"I tried on 10-15 different looks on the first day, but none of them worked. My director liked some of them, but I didn't. And if I don't believe in the look, I can't get into the character. The first day was a waste.“The next day, I tried on some more. Put on fake moustaches and beards, but nothing worked.“Now, about the get-up of Misir Ali: I have done over 1500 TV plays, and have played some 1,000 different characters. Of them, at least a hundred are clear in my memory. I have been in five films. In 'Aynabaji' alone I played six different roles. I had to make Misir Ali different from all of those. I had to think hard and deep about this."
I had to try on 30 different pair of spectacles before I could choose one. We took photos with those glasses, saw them on the big screen before selecting one. My director showed me many different looks from famous films, but it did not click for me because in my head Misir Ali is a Bangladeshi character written in the Bangladeshi context, and has to look that way. Eventually I decided to not use any prosthetic hair. Everything would have to be real."
“We went to a specialist Thai hairstylist to bleach my hair. I grew my beard out for about a week and when I put on the glasses, I was convinced that the look was perfect."
“Designing the house of Misir Ali was another mammoth task. Misir Ali is an extraordinary human being. He has a world of his own that is not like the rest of us. We got 5,000 books and about a hundred potted plants to put the room together. And then, there were13 days just immersed in filming. Jaya is perfect for the character of Ranu. She is one of the best actresses we have right now. I'm also really happy with the director and cinematographer's work. All in all, it was a new experience. I am waiting as excitedly for the film as the audience.”
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