Not so wow

Sampled mushroom momo, a new variant of the famous Tibetan food to me, at the Wow! Momo counter in Spencer's Hyper at Rashbehari Avenue yesterday. Was keen to try it being a mushroom freak. But the taste left a lot to be desired. I could hardly feel the mushroom slices. The soup was too salty and not exactly the kind you expect with momos. Also four pieces for Rs 40 is a little too premium for a hypermarket.

All in all, a thumbs down.

Random observations

Two things amused me on MG Rd on a recent trip to Hindu School. A new Bengali restaurant calls itself a multidimensional restaurant on the signboard (actually meaning multicuisine). It indeed looks 'ambitious' to perceive (and trying to make the customers do that too) each cuisine a dinemnsion, huh?

And New Raj, the old 'pure' veterian sweet shop, adjacent to Moonlight cinema, showed up with a takeaway roll counter at one side with all kinds of rolls including popular non-veg variries like egg roll and chicken roll.

Food for thought, indeed!

A green revolution?

First, the stunning sweep in Bengal in the Lok Sabha elections (25 off 42 seats) in May 16, followed by the not-so-unexpected municipal elections (13 off 16 municipalities) end-June, the Trinamool Congress- Congress (Indian National Congress) combine is riding on the rock-solid anti-left wave. The fate of KMC elections next year is clearer and the predictions for the 2011 assembly elections in Bengal has probably started. Is a green revolution waiting to unfold two years from now?

Very interestingly the image of the Trinamool supremo has visibly started evolving since before the LS elections. Mamata Banerjee looked unusually calm (even on the face of provocative questions), smiled a lot (and with ease!!), used a rarely-witnessed sense of humour and quoted classic literature in the long TV interviews on Star Ananda in the build-up to the Lok Sabha polls. She has apparently discouraged victory processions even after the historic LS results and now telling her party's supporters to become 'modest' after victory.

All this is in a stark contrast to the Mamata we always knew. Needless to say she's scored quite a few brownie points among those who've never exactly liked her way of doing things. This Mamata is calm, more in line with strategic thinking, shows a healthy temperament and on a single-minded mission that is a complete washout of the Left Front in the 2011 assembly elections in Bengal. There are reasons for increasing creases on the foreheads of Alimuddin's top brass.

Jee-Ko the twosome

The most popular pair in contemporary Bengali mainstream cinema in post Prasenjit-Rituparna era is back again. After more than two dry years of depriving thousands of cinegoers Jeet-Koel (Or 'Jee-Ko' to savvy fans) reunites in Saat Pake Bandha directed by debutant Sujit Mondal under the banner of the best in the business- Shree Venkatesh Films.

The exclusive photo above, from a recent promotional tour to Krishti Cultural Complex, Memari for 'Saat Pake Bandha' showing the warm off-screen bonding between the is a fine indicator of the on-screen chemistry they've worked up on screen again.

Coming soon is their second outing 'Neel Akashe Chandni', a triangle love story directed by veteran Sujit Guha, with Jisshu sharing the lead, for which they shot first after the happening reunion that drove tinsel media working overtime.

The new numero uno

He was a one-film wonder till 2007, though sort of an eye-candy, something unusual in Bengali cinema. He is tall, well-built, handsome with a simple smile that slowly works its charm on girls.

April 2009: He's delivered four back-to-back hits by now (I Love You, Premer Kahini, Mon Mane Na and Challenge, besides a killer of an item number in 2008's biggest grosser Chirodini Tumi Je Amaar). The first and the last in the row are definite blockbusters. It's a record that's honestly beyond comparison even with the erstwhile numero uno Prasenjit, staying at the top for ages now. So finally the throne has a new occupant. That his debut film was a dud (Agni Shapath) is a well-forgotten fact now, thanks to his resounding comeback in I Love You.

What Dev (known by his real name Deepak Adhikari before I Love You happened) brings to the table besides the physicality mentioned above is screen presence, a healthy and professional attitude, hardworking nature, and a hunger to rise higher and higher. He's calm, patient, down-to-earth, well-behaved and can handle success (Having spent a day with him on the promotional tour of Challenge this April on official duty I can vouch for all this). Being a software engineer from Mumbai venturing into tinsel town by sheer choice, he seems serious about his career moves. A strong defender of the throne of numero uno in short.

Rain, rain

Finally the rain drops on the office window panes and the outside seems to be something to stay on, with the thrilling background score of thunder!

The long-elusive monsoon seems to have stepped in........finally...... ending a long, torturous and depressing spell of heat and humidity.

Enjoy!

Madly Bangalee rocks!

After ‘The Bong Connection’ Anjan Dutta has finally made a film with his heart, something that can really connect with the audience. Its his best work by his own admission. ‘Madly Bangalee’, the first band film in Bengali, truly rocks, like a film of this genre should. It reminds me of the brilliant telefilms on ETV like ‘Amar Baba’, ‘Juddha’ made by Anjan years back. The core strengths of the film are a) superb performances by its mint-fresh, young lead cast playing members of the rock band the film revolves around, b) music by Neel Dutt and c) script and storytelling by Anjan. The actors in the lead cast making the rock band are actually from a Kolkata-based theatre group ‘Tin Can’ and know how to play the instruments they played in the film.

More than the youth spirit and rock music the film celebrates Kolkata, and that's what I absolutely love. That's what precisely makes it more relevant right here.

Go for it folks!!

Will be back soon!!

The humidity count must be 95%. It's a pain to commute between home and office in public transport. Working on field in the afternoon is like a punishment..............and in the middle of this I want to be back again where I always love to belong but am failed by situations of life- here at KC.

'Auto'cracy

It was shocking to see the unions of all colours fighting tooth and nail the high court-imposed two-stroke auto rickshaw ban on ground of air pollution with effect from January 2009. All the unions have auto rickshaw drivers under them flaunting the union flags in the vehicles so that the police thinks twice before touching them to enforce the ban. The Trinamool Congress union is the most aggressive, what with processions on the road and torching govt. buses. The red union (CITU, the union of CPI(M)), is strategically silent (while flouting the ban of course), as their govt. has to enforce the ban.

It would be a severe understatement to call the present govt. 'callous' or 'worthless' in fighting vehicular pollution in Kolkata, caused in the first place by the auotos running on dated engines mostly on adulterated fuel (popularly known as 'kata tel' in Bengali), followed closely by the government's own buses. On one hand it has never taken any proactive step towards fighting the city's history of severe air pollution and on the other hand it has routinely missed deadline after deadline to impose the court rule towards controlling air pollution and shamelessly bought time over and over again from it to enforce the rule.

But what also pains me as a citizen is the negative, anti-people politics practised by the unions of the ruling party and the main opposition (Trinamool Congress). Wouldn't it serve both purposes- of the people and of the auto rickshaw drivers- if they got into the act just after the July 2008 ruling of the blanket ban on all two-stroke autos with effect from January 1, 2009? Yes, they have a point: Two-strokers are not 'banned' in other metros and the ban means scrapping the two-strokers and buying four-stroke versions requiring a spend of more than a lakh per vehicle thereby putting the thousands of families dependant on these auto rickshaws under stake. But wouldn't there be a possibility of an actionable solution by December 08 if they joined hands and moved the court with the government in confidence? The road politics that includes frequent demonstration and strike are paining the daily commuters hard. So its a case of defeating purposes of both sides- the livelihood (of auto drivers) and the service to the innumerable daily commuters.

Whitewash

The recent recession has hit many in many ways. Executives contemplating a job switch have headhunters tell them to 'keep a little patience', others are no more dreaming of a 'cool' increment, companies are 'seriously' following cost control at all levels, malls are seeing less footfall, restaurants have less guests coming in etc.

At the same time the landscape is increasingly sporing an unusual colour- white. Thanks to the recession, corporates have axed their advertising budgets like never before in a long time and have dropped a large no. of hoarding sites. Those sites now sport the white colour flex with agency name and/ or contact numbers written on it. Hence instead of seeing more ads we are seeing a lot more mobile nos. So bad is the scenario that some outdoor agencies are even booking a part, generally half, of a site. That makes some sites amusingly look half white (with agency name, no.) and half colourful (with the advertisement).

Outdoor advertising gained a momentum over the past few years, increasing clutter in electronic media being one of the critical reasons. It lead to a lot more newer hoarding sites, bigger and bigger, on all main thoroughfares. In Kolkata EM Bypass especially saw a major rush by advertisers due to its location- outside the main city, thereby the visibility being more captive. But all that's a thing of the past now. One's view is consistently getting a jerk every other day in finding newly vacant sites wherefrom even last week Aamir Khan was looking straight making a point about a DTH service or a mobile service provider used to share one info or the other about its matchless service.

A 'fan'tasy coming true

Came across this intersting happening from the scrap of an Orkut fried. Ekhane Akash Neel, the mega serial on Star Jalsha starring Rishi Kaushik (He spells his name 'numerologically' touched Rrishii but) and Aparajita Ghosh Das in the lead, has given birth to a big and highly active Orkut community. The fantasy of 50 fans (off 504 members on last count) came alive on an invitation from Dr Kausani Sarkar of Tulip Nursing Home straight from the serial! Thanks to Kausani Roy, playing the doc, and a member of the community, the fellow members got the opportunity to meet the Ekhane Akash Neel team at the sets at Technicians Studio 2 on December 18. The fans met their favourite hero Dr Ujan Chatterjee and Hiya, aka Rishi and Aparjita and watched the shoot. Nothing could make a community meet more fantastic.

Pictures courtesy: Abhijit Das, a serious amateur photographer by his own admission.

Description (Top to bottom): The Ekhane Akash Neel community members with Rishi and Aparajita (Pink gown) in the middle, Kausani (in white) flanked by fellow community members, Rishi-Aparajita and Rishi signing an autograph holding a flower bouquet presented to him by the members.

The (proposed) next Feluda

After my last post Feluda 1 vs Feluda 2 on Sabyasachi Chakraborty's suitability as Feluda the thought of a better Feluda never slipped my subconscious mind.

It suddenly struck me as I was travelling in a bus on a Sunday. What about trying Rishi Kaushik as Feluda? He is young, has got the height, the physique and proven ability to act and charm the audience. All this apart he has the perfect cultured Bengali look essential for this legendary character so close to Bengali's heart. Thanks to his face he won't have to try hard to bring in the cerebrality Feluda requires. His hardworking nature will only help. Anyways he should make a much better Feluda any day than the ageing Sabyasachi. The rest depends on Sandip Ray.

Pour in your thoughts. Those who can't/ don't want to/ fail to post a comment may mail me at anirban48@gmail.com.

The Bengali paunch is in danger

'Paunch' is one single attribute unmistakably associated with the Bengali in many parts of India and also aborad. Marwaris are also in the same league, especially to a typical Bengali. But the difference is while a Marwari stereotype is a fat man with a big paunch, Bengali paunch comes in various sizes and the possesors range from generally healthy (with the paunch as the only odd part of appearance) to obese. The genesis of the paunch is in Bengali's legendary love for food that often overturns his concern for fitness (if there is any) and the fondness for sitting- at work or in 'adda' (prolonged casual chat) apart from other reasons.

Bengalis are reluctant, indulgent, fond, defensive or even proud of their paunch or others' paunches. Here's trying illustrating it with a few examples.

1. Pround of paunch: A man in his fifties is poked fun at his paunch by his sister-in-law ('Shali') whose husband is perfectly lean. The man retorts stating fortune is with those who possess a paunch (which is also traditionally looked as a sign of prosperity) and not with them who have a 'dog's stomach' (hinting at her husband).

2. Defensive: A healthy (and a little plump) friend who put on a lot of weight post his active university days remarked that he is dealt with importance because of his generous paunch when he negotiates for sitting space in local trains back home everyday. He would have been sidelined had he been lean.

3. Fond: A man in his late twenties in a decently paid job had lost weight (unintentionally) post his marriage. His friend's mother expressed her dissatisfaction over his weight loss ruing that his paunch had 'vanished'.

Talking of fondness, some have an extremely strange knack of patting their paunch like a tabla when they are happy.

4. Indulgent: A colleague had a just-noticeable paunch and was poked fun at it by his friends. But he genuinely thought gaining weight and growing a paunch had really improved his looks and would always smile away the moment whenever one pointed at it. He had caught Hepatitis and lost weight drastically. On his recovery he gained back all the excess weight. When somebody pointed out at his newly grown paunch as a result of the prolonged rest at home he promptly said 'but it was always there (before the disease)'.

Unless oddly big, a paunch is also looked at as a sign of overall health not only by the loving grandmothers, mothers and aunts but also by those hwo grow it.

As a dichotomy a Bengali also loves to point out at another's paunch and advise him to lose weight or just poke fun at it.

The talk can go on and on but will take it up on another day on an appropriate context. Let's come to the point now.

As reported by The Telegraph on top of front page earlier this month that a group of Indian medial experts led by Dr Anoop Misra, Head of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases division at Fortis Hospital, New Delhi, released the new cut-off points of overweight citing that BMI (body mass index, calculated as weight in kg divided by square of height in metres)- the international measure of fatness, had to be tailored for Indians and international standards couldn't be applied blindly. As Dr Misra said, the revision was long overdue (also approved by WHO some time back) as Indians' predisposition to metabolic diseases is among the highest in the world and fatness is directly linked to it.

The new standards state that an Indian adolescent/ adult with a BMI upto 22 is normal weight. 23-25 is overweight and above 25 is obese. The international standard that is currently followed calls a person overweight only when he/ she is within 25-30 and obese when the BMI crosses 30. As per the new cut-off a person with a BMI touching 25 will need to consider drug therapy as obesity is a disease in itself and can invite a host of lifestyle diseases like diabetes, heart problem, hypertension, gall stone and even cancer.

This is genuinely bad news for the Bengali who thinks he is fit and in decent shape albeit a bit of a paunch. Take this case: a man of 5'6" (average height for a Bengali) with an average build weighing 67 kg carrying a not-so-noticeable paunch will seriusly need to lose weight to just leave healthily as his BMI is 24.

So all those proud/ reluctant/ fond/ indulgent owners of a paunch beware! Take a hard look at it, be a little sensible about diet and try and be a little more active. Else this perceived sign of health will start taking a toll on the health itself.

Star goes a full-on Feluda

Star Theatre goes full-on Feluda with a tantalising fare of five shows a day this Friday (12 December) for the Feluda-crazy Bengali cutting across all age groups to feast on. The eagerly-awaited Tintoretor Jishu - the Hong Kong adventure of Feluda shows up at Star at 12.30 pm, 2.30, 4.30, 6.30 and 8.30 pm. What's more, the noon show and the night show have been priced less (Rs 40/ Rs 50/ Rs 60 compared to Rs 50/ Rs 70/ Rs 80 for the other three shows in between) to pull in the crowds.

The decision was fuelled by poor show of most of the four Hindi releases last week- Dil Kabaddi, Maharathi, Oh, My God!! and Meerabai Not Out and keeping the other eagerly-awaited Shah Rukh release Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi out of the scheme.

Am curious to see if this Feluda bet saves the day for the best theatre in North Kolkata.

The overlooked hunk

Rishi Kaushik made his debut on Bengali television a couple of years back in a telefilm produced by Indrani Halder, she playing the female lead. He looked impressive (playing a commando) right then, with potential for television and mainstream Bengali cinema too (given the right grooming and handling).

Years have passed by. Rishi has worked selectively on television. He has won many hearts for his sensitive portrayal of Indra, paired opposite Aparajita Ghosh Das playing his love interest Mohar, in the popular Zee Bangla soap Ekdin Pratidin.

It is beyond me why save for a few Bengali films like Riingo's 'Kranti' and Traun Majumdar's 'Chander Bari' he has been largely overlooked by the successful directors of Bengali mainstream cinema, who've rued in the media for the lack of actors with hero material i.e. goodlooking young men who can sort of act or can be made to act. In Kranti he played the dashing college baddie and brother of the villain Ashis Vidyarthi. In Chander Bari his character was not the lead and had a very traditional Bengali look. So his potential of being a frontrunner for the leading man's slot has been given a complete miss. Its more of a loss for the industry and the audience with a visible appetite for new heroes than his, I believe.

Hence this handsome hunk (having seen him personally at events I vouch for the words), instead of winning hearts of cinegoers giving his peers in hero-starved Tollygunge a run for their money, is charming the girls (and the women including mothers and aunts in all possibilities) as Dr Ujan Chatterjee, romancing Aparajita Ghosh Das again, in the soap Ekhane Akash Neel on the new Bengali entertainment channel Star Jalsha (Picture at bottom).

To cultivate him, visit his fan blog rrishiikaushikonline.wordpress.com.

Rituparno-Mir: Storm brewing among viewers

The Ghosh & Co. episode with Mir as guest telecast 16 November is eliciting excited response from KC readers.

The opinion is tilted in favour of Mir, and some have expressed disgust with Rituparno's way of conducting the episode, especially the perfectly prepared for verbal assault he made on Mir and the insult it caused.


To know more check the comments to the post Ghosh & Co. and Rituparno and Mir

Feluda 1 vs Feluda 2

The first phase of hoardings of Tintoretor Jishu, the latest Feluda flick announces 'Tintoretor Jishu is just coming'. And that takes me to the topic of this post. Yes, this has been an oft-debated subject. Which Feluda is better, Soumitra- the Ray's Feluda or Sabyasachi- the Ray Junior's Feluda of today. But I have restricted my thoughts to the physicality of the character.

Every Feluda fan worth his/ her salt knows his (Feluda's) physical attributes without what he can't be visualized. He is tall (6 feet plus) and well-built (Thanks to freehand exercises and yoga at home). I don't remember whether Ray ever wrote it expressly but Feluda is handsome without an iota of doubt (no wonder he has many a female admirer to his credit), and most importantly he is in his thirties. He never grew old after mid-thirties, something that was expected of such an iconic detective in Bengali literature.

I somehow came in terms with Sabyasachi in Bombaiyer Bombete, his first feature film as Feluda directed by Sandip Ray (Ray Jr). Things like the way he was rehearsing martial arts with Rajesh Sharma (playing Victor Perumal) or his style of shooting Rajatava hanging from the train (very un-Feluda-like expression) didn't go well with me......but still thought well, he is sort of okay.....if he is not then who.....there can't be anymore Feluda on screen then for this generation.

But Sabyasachi's appearance really shocked me in Kailase Kelenkari released last December. How could he even think of allowing himself to look like that? He was looking reasonably older than what Feluda can be accepted to look as and worse still....unfit!! A little pot belly showed on him and he was extremely ill at ease in the chase scene in the climax. In fact he looked downright funny in the dark profile shot in that scene. It was clear that he had been taking himself for granted as Feluda.

Though Sabyasachi is not in the best age to play Feluda, a dedicated regimen of working out under supervision and a right diet would have given him at least an acceptable physique and a younger look, with, importantly, the right postures for the character to take care of the physicality. Sadly, he is too lazy to do anything like that.

As for Ray Jr, he never got his Feluda right. Right from his first outing with Feluda-'Kissa Kathmandu Ka', the TV series on Doordarshan in the eighties antagonised the Feluda fans as it had the chubby and old Shashi Kapoor as Feluda. Hence Sabyasachi as he is now shouldn't be much of a problem for him. Also he has already defended himself by saying " aar keu nei" (There is none else (to play Feluda)).

Compared to Sabyasachi, Soumitra as Feluda, especially in Sonar Kella, was just perfect, physically and cerebrally. Well, he was Ray's Feluda after all. And Soumitra never took his look for granted. In his heyday he would work out regularly to maintain one of the best physiques in the history of Bengali cinema. Ray wouldn't have thought of someone like Sabyasachi in his nightmare even if Sabyasachi was from his times and Soumitra was not around. To understand this point the best, look at the photos again where Soumitra (in black & white) is from Sonar Kella and Sabyasachi is from Tintoretor Jishu shoot this year.

A dash of improvisation

The food stall at the Triangular Park bus stop (at the footpath at the park side), located close to Bake Club doesn't demand a second glance except for a few differences with its peers like that it serves the curries in white glass bowl and has chicken curry on the menu.

But its USP is more than what meets the eye. While it serves the regular lunch menu- roti, alur dum, ghughni, tarka, egg tarka apart from chicken curry, it has improvised on some of these items to have come up with egg alur dum (omlette mixed with alur dum, egg tarka style) and egg ghughni. These items are available at a little premium ( a regular half tarka (half a bowl in quantity)/ alur dum costs Rs 5 while their egg varieties cost Rs 9 each). It also serves chicken tarka: tarka with large chicken pieces.

The price is competitive but. The tarka comes at Rs 10 and chicken curry (with two large pieces) at Rs 20.

A man in his fifties, in half-sleeve shirt and barmudas, ever busy at the lunch hour, heats the already cooked ghughni/ tarka/ alur dum and adds freshly diced tomato, onion, ginger, chili and coriander leaves for taste. The roti comes from a different location carried by a boy in a few dozens in regular interval. The steaming food is served to the hungry customers predominated by executives waiting on the benches laid on the footpath. He more or less remembers the tastes & preferences of regular customers (Eg. someone does not want tomato and chili in his ghughni/ tarka). At times when he doesn't exactly remember the ingredients not preferred, he asks "Apnar jeno ki hobena?" (What all do you not want in your food, Sir?). His only colleague of similar age, in shirt and lungi, quickly beats the rotis between the palms to get rid of the wee bit of loose atta and serves the food on steel saucer with cut onion and green chili. The rotis just fly off the container.

Rituparno and Mir

The encouraging no. of responses on the 'Ghosh & Co.' post a little earlier (helped by my Rituparno Ghosh community on Orkut) got me do two things (apart from writing a comment to the 'Ghosh & Co.' post in the first place purely on assumption): a. Watch the repeat telecast of the Mir episode on Sunday 23 November at 5 pm (original telecast on 16 November) and b. Write this post.

Well, it seems the picture above was taken after the now-controversial episode was shot. At least Mir's apparently 'rehearsed' smile says that. And Ritu's smile is a happy winner's, after (verbally) bashing Mir to pulp just before. Just kidding!

The moot point is about the last 21 minutes of the show when Ritu's take on Mir's mimicry reached an uneasy point both for Mir, his admirers and others watching the show on telly. The core of it was Ritu's characteristically yet unusually strong argument to critique Mir's mimicry of effeminate people like Ritu (yes, officially, coming from Rituparno). The point Ritu drove home over and over again was that he was unaffected by Mir's take on him, due to his stature, a greater popularity and recognition than Mir and confidence. But the same may have really hurt many other effeminate people who might pretty well feel Mir was mocking them as well by taking Ritu as a subject.

Mir was so taken aback, as visible in the uncharacteristic surrender, that he shot an open letter in protest of his 'insult' in the show. The letter was reportedly carried in The Times of India the day after the show.

I personally felt that Ritu went a little off the hook probably for the first time ever in his talk shows as the matter was too close to his heart for comfort. Maybe the matter could be handled in a better way had he been able to be a little more objective.

On the other hand, this experience, insulting for Mir indeed as it happened before the audience of an already popular show, might nevertheless set Mir thinking when his anger settles down, and ask himself: doesn't he overstep (he did admit in the show that he does it 'sometimes') in general in mimicking people like Rituparno and Bappi Lahiri by the frequency of the act on his morning show on Radio Mirchi and other television shows he hosts/ has hosted and by the kind of other platforms he chooses (he routinely does it in the award functions he hosts)? I remember once during the last World Cup football he mimicked Bappi Lahiri by comparing his size with a football. Is that in good taste, Mir, or in good spirit, as you claim it to be? Can you ever interview Bappi Lahiri with a clear conscience?

The talk can't end here. There can be many takes. Come...pour your heart over this matter that can really create a storm in the tea cup- a Bengali favourite.

10:10

Arin Pal, the founder-member of Bangla Telefilm Club, is a busy man these days. Having started his first feature film as a director (after being the Chief Assistant Director in No Poblem, mentioned long back on this blog) middle of this year, he's already neck-deep into post-production of his next 10:10 (in Bengali, pictures above), a wacky comic thriller, which is releasing first, on 28 November. The movie made news big time as German supermodel Claudia Ciesla came to Kolkata a few months back to shoot for the film, keeping the city media busy for a few days.

Here's Arin in a freewheeling chit chat with Kolkata Curry.

Kolkata Curry (KC): So 10:10 is an officially 'different' film as "It is not a lift from a south Indian film...." as the website (www.1010-thefilm.com) says it?

Arin: Ha ha ha... True... Its different...


KC: Your first film 'Sabdhan Pancha Aschhe' (Yet unfinished) was also a comedy like 10:10. Do you have a flair for comedies or they are just happening?

Arin: They are just happening... Though its fun making comedies...


KC: What kind of a comedy is 10:10?

Arin: You can call it a non-sense comedy or a sattire even...


KC: How much is today's Kolkata integral to the story?

Arin: Very much... 10:10's story is very contemporary and socially relevant. But, its potrayed in a different way.


KC: You have an ensemble cast that includes a German supermodel (Claudia Ciesla). How did the casting happen, especially of Claudia?

Arin: The character was of an international journalist and it so happened that my producers knew about Claudia as she had done a film named Karma: Crime, Passion & Re-incanation in India. They suggested her to me. I got in touch with her. Sent her the story and script and she agreed after going through.


KC: Despite the fact that it isn't actually a small or even a medium-budget film, you haven't taken any star in lead cast. Didn't you feel the need for a star on board to pull the audience as it is your debut film?

Arin: No... Not at all... I think its the story and the script which is important... Stars give you an extra punch... But, I'm happy with all I worked...


KC: What would you like to say about the music? How exactly did you want it to be? Is music integral to the film?

Arin: Music... Drono has done a very good job... It's the way I wanted it to be... Yes, its an integral part...


KC: Is the item song blending well with the story?

Arin: May be... May be not... U see and decide...


KC: Bengali filmmakers haven't still woken up to the idea of making a website for promoting a film. How do you think the website will help the film? I must say it is pretty cool and the creative is pretty refreshing.

Arin: Thanks... Making a website helps the film reach out more to its audience... Also it hepls in marketing, publicity and PR...


KC: Lastly, best wishes from Kolkata Curry for 10:10 and tell us a few words about your next film (Mixed Mosla).

Arin: Thanks...... Planning in Jan'09... Produced by Morpheus Media Ventures Pvt. Ltd. Its another comedy coming up. Trust me... a mind-blowing script it has by Padmanabha Dasgupta. The story is mine. Keeping fingers crossed. CHEERS!!!