KOLKATA: After portraying a pivotal character in Aparna Sen’s ‘Iti Mrinalini’, legendary actor, director and thespian Rajat Kapoor is back in Bengal with a nuanced character for a hoichoi web series ‘Shobdo Jobdo’ by Sourav Chakraborty. Series started streaming from February 21. In his brief Kolkata visit, Rajat Kapoor shares some thoughts and facts in an exclusive tete-a-tete.
Here are the excerpts.
Q: You are playing a writer in ‘Shobdo Jobdo’. Apart from the reel, you are a real-life writer. Has writer Rajat Kapoor ever hallucinated any character he created? Rajat: No, not at all. Because, when I write or act, the character is coming from inside of Rajat the person, not Rajat Kapoor is coming from the character. Here, my character, Saugata Sinha, is not mentally stable. But if anyone is schizophrenic or hallucinating, there is no hard and fast rule that he has to be a writer, he can be a man of any profession.
Q: When you adapt Shakespeare or any other playwright’s creation, what do you keep in mind?
Rajat: When I’m thinking of doing ‘Hamlet’ or ‘King Lear’, then I try to find that in my time. While adapting ‘Hamlet’, I can’t keep Denmark in my mind at all, I try to think that how my contemporary surroundings can capture that perspective. Again, when I thought about ‘King Lear’, I actually was convinced to tell a tale of a father and a daughter. It’s the story we have in our own lives or in the familiar range. Honestly, I’m actually more interested in Shakespeare’s theme. Q: Did you ever think of making a film adapting Shakespeare? Rajat: Not so yet, but right now I’m writing a screenplay that could happen a bit Shakespearean.
Q: The name that comes to our mind before anyone is Rabindranath Tagore. Didn’t think about doing anything based on Tagore’s work? Rajat: I’ll tell you an interesting fact. You know, these days audiobooks are very popular and people are listening to audiobooks. I was listening to a Tagore story, ‘Kabuliwala’, a few days ago. This was not that I was hearing it for the first time. It’s a story I have heard from a very early age and also have seen so many films based on this cult classic. Even you may recall, there was a film in Bollywood called ‘Bioscopewala’ a year back but still, I was involved so emotionally that made me end up with tears. His writings still connect. It’ll be a pleasure definitely If I ever succeed adapting Tagore. Q: What are those parameters actor Rajat Kapoor keeps in mind when hearing a script? Rajat: First and foremost, I keep searching authenticity and credibility. I notice that if they are saying the same thing they have promised. The thin line between what is being said and what they would have said is important. In my opinion, writing a good script is a very difficult task.
(AGENCIES)
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