Actor Dibyendu Bhattacharya, who is currently receiving all the love and praise for his portrayal in Mission Ranigunj, speaks to The Pioneer about the need for films on heroism, his interactive moments with Akshay Kumar, and more.
SHIKHA DUGGAL
Actor Dibyendu has been on the receiving end of praises for his portrayal in Mission Raniganj — he confesses it all about taking up the role and more.“There is an utmost need for films on heroism like these, especially done by Akshay Kumar most of the time because there are no brave men in reality. Fiction is the new world to explore these champions then. Akshay has that guts, that credence of being a protagonist. In fact, if the rest of us weren’t renouncing a few things the film wouldn’t have been made. It’s always a team effort. I always have this thing in mind: if nobody else is willing to do the role, it’s mine.
And Akshay wasn’t born as a “great man”— he was one of us. The common man! Today, he is a man of courage and that’s why I love doing films with him. Heroism should be our priority, no doubt about it and that’s why Misson Raniganj is made,” shared the Criminal Justice fame.
Still, all eyes are on the movie because the team has valiantly risen up to the occasion. A little-known fact is that our interviewee was also born and brought up in a similar shooting place. Yes, that’s right! West Bengal is the location where parts of the movie were shot to show the true mines.
The actor who will be next seen starring alongside Anushka Sharma elaborates, “There is a whole mine belt near Kolkata. I was told about a similar mining disaster when I was growing up in Dhanbad—an explosion followed by flooding that killed 375 miners. This incident has become a folklore in our community. Kala Patthar was a similar film. We were always told by our ancestors that diamonds are to be found only in coal mines: that’s our general idea of a mine.”
Sharing exclusive interaction moments with the leading actor of the movie, Maharani fame described the camaraderie to be, “I am the only baddie in the film so that enticed Akshay a lot. We were busy improvising together. But as everyone knows he’s way too disciplined and hence it’s difficult to maintain that camaraderie with him (he laughed). We shot most of it in London though. But Durgapur was interesting to shoot at due to its authenticity. It gave the film an industrial touch! There are railway tracks, and wells that came in handy for us.”
Dibyendu Bhattacharya has done maximum big banner films, another one with Pooja Entertainment was anyway a cherry on the cake. Moreover, the seasoned actor feels, “Earlier the sway was about producers, today the direction of air has changed and it’s all about the massive production houses. Producers were godfathers! Many of them have bred superstars of today, even technicians. That’s why a producer’s guild is important in the entertainment industry because they are the ones promoting art with sensitivity.
I liked those producers who didn’t care about the revenue but just art. Presently, it’s all about the box office collections.” On a final note, he concluded by saying that he’s a very secure actor in this industry and an ensemble cast cannot ever make him unconfident starring alongside a superstar.
