Bengali films’ biggest star plays a failed but arrogant author in his latest release.
Shesh Pata (The Last Page), starring Prosenjit Chatterjee, not only explores debt and freedom but also holds the mirror to a trend that has assumed a monstrous life of its own in the modern world, artist bashing.
The film has Chatterjee playing Balmiki Sengupta, a non-conformist writer, who once used to be very popular among readers. But the murder of his wife, a film and stage actor, in 1991 is the turning point in his life, which keeps going downhill thereon.
The death is like a springboard for the film, which never goes into a flashback. It is set in the present times, where a scruffy, dishevelled and sickly Balmiki can barely hold on to himself.
He has lost everything but pride.
Balmiki is the target of relentless personal attacks from a host of people — from his neighbours to a recovery agent hired by a pesky publisher.
The director of the film, Atanu Ghosh, said the physical insults hurled at his protagonist resemble the relentless online trolling that celebrities are now subjected to.
“The times we live in spare nobody. An author, filmmaker, actor, poet, cricketer, everyone is trolled. Trying to strip the person of basic human dignity is now such an important attribute of social media. We have seen it everywhere. The attack is not limited to the artiste alone. His family members are also targeted,” said Ghosh, also the director of Mayurakshi (2017), the national award winner starring Prosenjit Chatterjee and Soumitra Chatterjee.
“Somewhere, they are pushed to the limits. They are bitten, scratched at, and gravely wounded. Shesh Pata raises that existential question. Is the life of an artiste who is the target of a similar assault, utterly meaningless,” Ghosh told The Telegraph.
A still from Shesh Pata starring Prosenjit Chatterjee and Gargee Roychowdhury
Online trolls are emboldened by the cloak of anonymity.
Psychiatrist Jai Ranjan Ram said: “There is also a mob mentality at play. The trolls usually seek strength and validation in numbers. Trolling also has a downward slope. What starts as a critical comment often leads to personal abuse.”
The film shows as much but translates the online jibes into a physical and more easily recognisable form. As one neighbour insults Balmiki, others join in.
In real life, Chatterjee is no stranger to online attacks. From random trolls to people in the film industry accusing him of sabotaging careers, he has seen a lot.
“People tend to be judgmental at the drop of a hat. I have been criticised since day one. Criticism from a film critic is different. When every Tom, Dick and Harry starts criticising, it gets a bit annoying. But even that is acceptable. Judge me for my work all that you want. But when I get judged for things other than acting, I feel suffocated. The trolls are judge, jury and executioner, all rolled into one,” Chatterjee told this newspaper.
On attacks from people in the industry, he said: “Any person who has been around for over three decades inany field comes across such attacks. I don’t lose sleep over it”.
What works for Gargee Roychowdhury, who plays Medha, a woman struggling to deal with a broken marriage, in the film is not being very active on social media.
“I am a very private person. I firmly believe people in showbiz should be reclusive to an extent. I become active on social media in the run-up to the release of a film, mainly for promotion. I don’t have a social media team. Whatever I write or post, I do it myself. They are mine. But since I am not very active, I am spared the trolling, in general,” she said.
“The film deals with issues that are universal as well as topical,” said Firdausul Hasan, the producer.
