Actor Parambrata Chattopadhyay plays the celebrated Bengali fictional detective Prodosh Chandra Mitter or Feluda in Arindam Sil's Zee5 web series Shabash Feluda, a contemporary version of the detective franchise. IBNS correspondent Souvik Ghosh speaks to Parambrata on Shabash Feluda and more...

Q. You wanted to bring a balance in your work schedule in 2023. Could you manage it?

A. I have interests in certain things beyond acting. In 2023, I want to concentrate on certain other spheres, which excite me as well. So I am working towards bringing that balance.

Q. You have featured as Feluda for a TV series in 2017. Were you eager to play Feluda from then only?

A. We can say Shabash Feluda is more of a continuation of it (2017 TV series) in the sense we made that project without any budget at a time where there was no OTT. I had radically interpreted Feluda in that work. Since Shabash Feluda is a much bigger project, we have tried to amalgamate the traditional flavour of Feluda with modernisation.

Q. Did you have any hesitation in playing Feluda after featuring as Topse?

A. No, there was no hesitation. I had to be prepared for comparisons, criticisms and trolls. Comparisons and criticisms were bound to happen as a lot of emotions and memories are associated with Feluda. Moreover, we Bengali people tend to dwell on memories so we as a community take time to accept anything new. So it was not surprising to see a section of people resisting the change. But if they are true Feluda fans, they will allow the contemporisation to co-exist.

Q. Definitely there is a section of people who are eager to see the modernisation as well.

A. There is a huge section of people who are keen to watch Feluda in a completely new form. Moreover, there is an existence of a separate section of people who just want to comment for the sake of it on social media.

Q. You have a love for observation. Did that characteristic help you in playing Feluda?

A. Yes, definitely. One of the key characteristics of Feluda is his observation power. So it was undoubtedly important.

Q. A lot of filmmakers are also speaking against the 'excessive making' of Feluda or Byomkesh in recent times. How do you view this discussion?

A. We had the rights actually so it would have been foolish to waste it. Moreover, people, who are criticising too many films being made on Feluda and Byomkesh, are eventually turning up with a franchise. So this kind of a discussion is useless.

Q. A lot of Tollywood actors are now venturing into the Hindi film industry. Do you feel like the torchbearer considering your works over the years in Mumbai?

A. I think some of us like me, Swastika (Swastika Mukherjee), Jisshu (Jisshu U Sengupta) to some extent, are torchbearers. We have been working in Mumbai for a long time successfully.

Q. You have recently posted on social media about your mother referring to DVDs. How do you see the transitions from the world of CDs/DVDs to the one of OTT?

A. Everything has changed completely. The pattern of viewing cinema has changed. The audience now wants to watch films on big screens very selectively. Gone are the days when big stars in a film used to fill the theatre houses.

(Photography: Avishek Mitra/IBNS)