What prompted ARINDAM SIL to get inspired by characters from Ray’s masterpieces while penning the script of his next directorial venture?

After Choukath, Arindam Sil is ready with his next directorial project. Like the former, this one too will be part of the Bondhu Tomaye series. Titled Aborto, Sil sees this as his “tribute to Satyajit Ray”. Sil explains, “I have taken six characters from various films of Ray and woven them together in this story. So, while there is a Shyamal and Runu from Seemaboddho, there’s Charu from Charulata. If Siddhartha from Protidwandi finds a place in Aborto, Aranyer Din Ratri’s Duli and Hari too feature in the script.” Interestingly, the characters retain their traits as was evident in the original Ray films. The director, however, chooses to give a modern take to the tale. “So, here Shyamal works in the corporate sector. He is highly ambitious and is a probable contender for a promotion. His wife is Charulata, who much like Ray’s Charu, suffers from loneliness,” the director says, adding, “Though Hari isn’t a footballer as in the original story, I’m showing him as a Team Kolkata player and a Page 3 celeb. Hari retains his flirtatious nature much like Ray’s concept of the character.”
While the story is Sil’s own, the credits for script and dialogue have been jointly shared by him and Padmanabha Dasgupta. Ask the director what triggered this brainwave and Sil reasons, “I have Ray embedded in me and my appreciation for good cinema started off by watching the master film-maker’s works. With May 2 being Ray’s birthday, I felt that this would be the best way to pay him a cinematic tribute when it gets telecast on May 3.”
As far as the cast is concerned, there’s Bhaskar Banerjee playing Runu, Tathagata Mukherjee as Shyamal, Srabanti Banerjee as Charu, Sahana Sen as Duli, Sourav Chatterjee as Siddhartha and Gogol as Hari. Ask this actor-director-producer if he has set aside a role for himself and he jokes, “Who knows? I just might make an appearance. But let that be a surprise!” However, on a more serious note, he continues, “Those who know Ray will be able to identify with the characters, but for the uninitiated, this will be nichhok ekta golpo. Even then, if after watching the same, a few feel the urge to watch the original movies, then my job is done.”
Ask Sil if there’s any big screen venture in the offing and he signs off with, “After watching Choukath, I’ve been asked to think over directing a film.”