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Rituparno Ghosh all praise for Amitabh Bachchan
25th May 2007 09.00 IST
By Agencies

Prolific director Rituparno Ghosh says that Bollywood mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan is such a pleasure to work with that he can do a thousand films with him.

At a time when filmmakers of his ilk often struggle to raise funds for a single movie, Ghosh is almost ready with as many as three films, including one that stars Bachchan.

In Cannes to present the black-and-white "Dosar" in the Tous les Cinemas du Monde section, Ghosh spoke about the experience of working with Bachchan in The Last Lear , an English adaptation of late Utpal Dutt's celebrated Bengali play, "Aajker Shah Jahan".

"I can do a thousand films with Amitabh Bachchan. He is such a pleasure to work with," the prolific director said.

"He has redefined professionalism," said Ghosh. "By bringing warmth and humility into his work. He is so human.

"He is like a newcomer with the experience of a veteran. That combination is absolutely delightful. I now know exactly why filmmakers want to work with him repeatedly."

Ghosh's other two films that have been wrapped up are "Khela", a Bengali film starring Prosenjit Chatterjee, Manisha Koirala and Raima Sen , and the Hindi-Bengali bilingual "Sunglass", a comic fantasy featuring Naseeruddin Shah , Jaya Bachchan and Konkona Sen Sharma . Tota Roy Chowdhury and Madhavan play the male leads in the Bengali and Hindi versions respectively.

In ‘The Last Lear’, Bachchan plays a Shakespearean actor working with a film unit. Produced by Planman Films, the movie also stars Preity Zinta , Arjun Rampal and Shefali Shah.

"The English that the characters speak in my film isn't a stilted, homogenised colonial form of the language," Ghosh said. "I treat English as an ethnic expression.

"The English that Amitabh Bachchan speaks is different from what Arjun Rampal does. What the latter speaks is different from what Preity does."

Interestingly, Ghosh revealed that ‘The Last Lear’, which will have a smattering of Bengali and typically Indian expressions like "Come yaar", will be subtitled in English for easy comprehension both in India and in the rest of the world.

‘Sunglass’, also a Planman production, is Ghosh's first out and out comedy.

"The film also has songs," he said. "There was an element of humour in 'Bariwali' that served to provide relief in what was otherwise a film tinged with deeply affecting emotions. But it's true that I have never done an all-out comedy before," the director said.

Talking about his propensity to cast Bollywood actors, he said this is a part of his strategy to take Bengali cinema beyond the boundaries of West Bengal.

"If I cast an Amitabh Bachchan or an Aishwarya Rai in my film, it helps a film from Bengal reach a wider audience. What's wrong with that?"

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