The cast of Khakee: The Bengal Chapter shares how the creator Neeraj Pandey has got each detail right
Khakee: The Bengal Chapter may not have won everyone’s hearts, but its stellar cast is certainly winning accolades. Be it the Bengali heavyweights, like Prosenjit Chatterjee and Jeet, the talented Ritwik Bhowmik, or non-Bengali actors like Aadil Zafar Khan and Chitrangada Singh, in an exclusive interaction, they share what it means to be part of a Neeraj Pandey series. And how the acclaimed filmmaker got Bengal’s inimitable flavour right.
Prosenjit won’t go as far to suggest that The Bengal Chapter is an out-and-out authentic representation, but a fictionalised story set in his home state. He adds, “Culturally rich Bengal has always been shown in a softer way. But, yes, the series does bring out a new facet of the state, including violence, which has so far been romanticised on screen.” On nailing his part of a vile politician with a fair degree of sophistication, the Jubilee star says, “I always take on the challenge of bringing out the grey shades of my character.” For Aadil, the rigorous process of workshops, dialect training and more helped him get into the skin of tempestuous Ranjit. Indeed, as one of the dialogues in the series talks about symphony as the keyword to success, they admit that there has to be a symphony among the ensemble cast. Prosenjit quips, “One actor out of tune and the entire rhythm goes for a toss.”
In particular, to crack the bonhomie bordering on bromance between Aadil’s and Ritwik’s onscreen characters of Ranjit and Sagor, the two actually became great friends. As Aadil puts it, “In Ritwik I got a brother for life.” As to why twists and turns-laden crime thrillers capture audiences’ attention, Chitrangda observes, “Perhaps, our lives lack thrill otherwise. So, we seek excitement vicariously.” The lovely actress, who has previously worked with many stalwart filmmakers like Sudhir Mishra, lauds Neeraj Pandey for his vision. She states, “Both are nearly the same school of filmmaking, who would not unnecessarily beautify or glamourise things, certainly not just for the heck of it. They don’t shy away from stating the way it is.”
The cast was not daunted by possible comparisons with the first outing of the Khakee franchise, which won unqualified admiration of critics and audiences alike. Jeet believes, “If you are afraid of criticism, then do something else.” Similarly, Ritwik, the Radhe of Bandish Bandits, too was not unnerved by this 360-degree switch from a gentle musician to a baddie in his reel roles. Ritwik shares, “Rather than thinking of how the audiences would react to my Sagor, I was quite excited about etching him.”
Whether for Jeet this has been a perfect Hindi web series debut, he would not say as he doesn’t think there is anything called perfectionism. However, he does feel that even though Bengali is one of the most widely spoken language the world over, for Khakee: the Bengal Chapter Hindi was more suitable.
On the beauty of OTT, both Chitrangada and Jeet opine that the medium is brimming with possibilities. Says Chitrangada, “This is the place to be, OTT is gaining such a distinct voice. It’s an explosion of creativity out there.” Indeed, the Netflix series, which is a wonderful alchemy of actors from so many regions across the country, stands as testimony to her assertion.
