It is a story that is very close to Kabir Suman’s heart and he wanted to direct the film himself. But for age and health concerns, the maestro is ready to hand over his dream project — a tribute to Pannalal Ghosh, titled “Nupurdhwani” — to Satrajit Sen.
“I had written this script a long time ago. I wanted to direct it and though it may have been possible six-seven years back, I don’t have the stamina now. So I’ve entrusted Satrajit with the job. I will direct the music and will be with him throughout the making with my suggestions. I know Satrajit is a novice, but I have faith in him. I like his attitude and have seen that he’s very interested in films. This is a humble tribute to Acharya Pannalal Ghosh. It’s sad that Bengal and even India have forgotten the legend and his centenary. But in Bangladesh they celebrate it for three days and artistes from here go to perform there. As an MP, I requested our Prime Minister and Lok Sabha speaker to celebrate the day or at least bring out a stamp in his memory, but no one took my request seriously,” said Suman to the Times of India. He has thought of Arun Mukhopadhyay in the lead role, “but I haven’t spoken to him,” added Suman. The film will have a lot of Indian classical music and Suman will weave in a few ragas created by Pannalal.
Satrajit is on cloud nine after Suman’s offer. “It came out of the blue and I obviously asked ‘why me?’ and Sumanda said that he liked the way I thought about films.
“While we all know Suman as a songwriter and composer, he has also learnt filmmaking in Germany and used to make films on super 8 cameras. He knows editing as well. While he was suppose to make it, he had two cerebral attacks and he was advised to abort the project,” said Satrajit.
The film will go on the floors after March 2015. “It will be a dream come true if we can make Naseeruddin Shah sign on. We will be approaching him shortly,” informed Satrajit.