Very few people have the creative stamina Jisshu Sengupta possesses to deliver credible work across industries, barring language, besides cultures. To call him merely a “Bengali actor” would be a grave injustice: his filmography has grown from strength to strength over the years and now includes Hindi, Bengali and Telugu cinema.
This year alone the 49-year-old actor has enjoyed two consecutive successes. Mardaani 3, in which he starred alongside Rani Mukerji, won critical praise, while Priyadarshan’s Bhooth Bangla was a commercial hit, raking in impressive box-office numbers. Jisshu Sengupta is on a roll.
Now he features in the intriguing psychological crime thriller Brown, helmed by Abhinay Deo, in which he plays a mysterious psychiatrist. He shares the screen with A-listers such as Karisma Kapoor, Helen and Soni Razdan.
In an exclusive conversation with NDTV, Jisshu Sengupta explains why he could not say no to Abhinay Deo for Brown, the ‘charisma’ Karisma Kapoor brings to the project, and why we might see Calcutta in a different light.
Jisshu Sengupta: “Karisma Kapoor – Like Never Before”
In Brown, Jisshu Sengupta plays a psychiatrist who has a crucial role in unravelling a murder mystery as Karisma Kapoor’s Rita Brown, an alcoholic cop battling her own demons, attempts to crack the case. Jisshu Sengupta as Sandeep Chakraborty makes Rita Brown face her own inner grief in the process.
Jisshu Sengupta in Brown. Image Credit: Zee5
Karisma Kapoor was the quintessential 90s heroine, a David Dhawan staple, with classics such as Fida and Zubeidaa showcasing her craft. To see her stripped of that glamour in Brown, as she portrays an alcoholic cop on the run to solve a murder, is both refreshing and thrilling.
Karisma Kapoor in Brown. Image Credit: Zee5
Jisshu Sengupta, once again the ideal choice amid Brown’s star power, concurs.
He says, “What I’ve gathered from Brown is, considering her Zubeidaa and Fiza, considering her in Dhawan’s films with Govinda ji, then Yash Chopra films, I believe this is her finest work to date. When you watch it, you will see the way she has performed without makeup, without even looking in a mirror – she’s incredible. You have not seen this Karisma Kapoor before. This is a new Karisma Kapoor in Brown.”
“I Couldn’t Say No After Meeting Abhinay Deo”
That Abhinay Deo has a penchant for dark comedy is well known. Jisshu Sengupta is an ardent fan; he recalls Delhi Belly and says, “There’s no two ways about the fact that I am a fan.”
He adds what made him say yes to Brown, “I wanted to work with him. I wanted to meet him. So I went to his office, he narrated the story to me in 15-20 minutes and then gave me my character brief. I didn’t have an option apart from saying yes. I said yes, I came out of the office, and the rest is history.”
The Do’s And Don’ts Of Choosing A Project
Tracking Jisshu Sengupta’s filmography and rise to prominence is an excellent case study in how, after the lowest of lows, come the sweetest of highs.
His first shot at stardom came in September 1998, when he played the titular character in the Bengali historical series Mahaprabhu. After his 1999 debut with the Bengali film Proyojon, he experienced a period of struggle – but that was the lull before the storm.
His turning point came in 2008 when he collaborated with acclaimed director Rituparno Ghosh in The Last Lear. From there he was unstoppable.
He delivered exceptional Bengali films such as Autograph, Jaatishwar and Ek Je Chhilo Raja, and featured in major Bollywood projects including Barfi!, Piku and Shakuntala Devi. More recently he was seen with Kajol in The Trial, Rani Mukerji in the Mardaani franchise, Akshay Kumar in Bhooth Bangla, and now Karisma Kapoor in Brown.
Having reached this height, the actor explains what makes him accept a project today.
Jisshu Sengupta says, “It’s been more than a decade I’ve been doing this. When I hear a story, I listen to it as an audience. If I like the story, then I look at my character. If I remove my character from the story, does the story still stand? If it does, I will not do it. If the story stops without my character, I will definitely do it.”
He adds, “It can be one scene or two scenes, or it can be the entire film. That doesn’t matter. What matters is whether those scenes are truly mine, and whether they change the entire story.”
And Finally… Brown
Brown was supposed to be released three years ago, so its eventual release is a good sign.
Jisshu Sengupta recalls, “I don’t know exactly what happened. I can’t comment on that. But yes, it was supposed to release – it was made at least three years back. I guess there were some internal things, I’m sure.”
A Calcutta resident, Jisshu Sengupta has a love affair with the city that many Bengalis share. Yet he insists this is not the city you grew up knowing, as we’ll see in Brown.
Calcutta plays a character in Brown too.
“This Kolkata you have not seen. This is a very different Kolkata. You will see it through Abhinay Deo’s lens. Being Kolkata-born and brought up and so in love with Kolkata, I have not seen it like this. Kolkata is a very, very major character in the film.”
And thus he leaves it to our imagination to discover Abhinay Deo’s world and the mysteries that lie in the meandering lanes of Calcutta. The show is now streaming on Zee5.
