KOLKATA: Actor-producer Dev said his upcoming film “Cockpit”, the first Bengali movie on aircraft mishap and its aftermath, has been shot in real locations.
“I think a film like ‘Cockpit’ has seldom been made in our country before. It is a film in which issues like safe landing, turbulence during flight and runway overshoot of the aircraft have been referred to. It has never been done before. We also filmed a particular scene in air with the permission from the concerned authorities,” Dev said here.
In the film, Dev, who has also produced it, plays a pilot. He said before shooting the film, he and his team discussed the story with everyone concerned including Air India personnels, ATC, airport authorities, DGCA, flight attendants and flight engineers.
“We heard their personal accounts to use in the story, to make it as realistic as possible.”
“Cockpit”, the second film by Dev’s production house Dev Entertainment after “Champ”, has been helmed by acclaimed director Kamaleswar Mukherjee, who previously directed the actor in “Chander Pahar” and its sequel “Amazon Obhijaan.”
“Kamal da loves to take up larger-than-life subjects. This was seen in ‘Chander Pahar’ and now in ‘Cockpit’. He did not back out from working on such a subject.
“Working on such a topic requires long hours of study and we had researched for six months. I am not sure if any other director has such perseverance and patience,” he said.
Dev said when the director narrated him the film, he immediately agreed to do it.
“Apart from computer graphics work, we took care of every minute detail. We had shootings in three airports – N S C B International airport, Kolkata, Mumbai airport and Andal airport in West Bengal’s Durgapur,” he said.
Asked if the audience will be happy with an aviation-themed movie, Dev said, “Everyone loves to hear and know if there is a tale beyond the professional life of a pilot, about his wife and child. ‘Cockpit’ covers that emotional journey.
“And if there lies a gap between masala and art house genre of films, we are trying to bridge that gap by presenting a middle of the road cinema.”
Dev, who starred in several commercial potboilers like “Paglu” and “Khoka 420”, is moving on to more content-based films.
“We have to change ourselves. I can’t give the audience the chance to say Dev can only do one kind of films.”
Citing the examples of superstars like Kamal Haasan and Aamir Kha, the actor said, “I want to be a superstar who keeps on changing with every character. I now want to give my audience a new character in every film.”
“Cockpit” also stars Dev’s frequent co-star Koel Mallick and Rukmini Maitra, who was the leading lady in “Champ”.
“Me and Koel share a unique bonding since ‘Paglu’ days and we known each other’s traits. Koel plays a pilot, while Rukmini is a flight attendant.” (AGENCIES)
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