Digital media is future of Bengali cinema: Prosenjit

At a time when Bengali films are struggling to cope with the twin onslaught of dwindling audience and Bollywood, superstar of the Bengali screen Prosenjit thinks digital platform is the future.

"We have to think of Netflix, Amazon and others. There is huge money to be made because the digital media need good content, which we have," he said.

In fact, he said on the fringes of a programme on Saturday, the people in the Bengali film industry were already focusing on it in a big way.

On whether the Bengali film industry was coping with the multiplex culture, Prosenjit said that cinema had always changed itself with time, be it the arrival of television or the invasion of satellite channels and cable televisions.

"Cinema has always been challenged. When we started our career, we saw Doordarshan invading our households. We started wondering whether people will henceforth come to the theatres to watch movies at all. After that came the satellite channels, cable channels."

"So we have to go on changing our content and the scale. We have to change to get the audience back to the theatre," he said.

Asked how he remained on top for more than 33 years in the industry, the actor said, "I never challenged time but altered myself acoordingly, which has helped me keep going for such a long time in a demanding field like the film industry."

"I did a film "Amar Songi" some 25-30 years back, but I should no longer do a film like that today. I should do a film which I can do and people can accept saying yes this is Prosenjit. I try to reinvent myself everyday and I will continue to reinvent myself everyday till the last day of my life," he said.

On a personal level, he struck a despondent note: "We actors are mostly misunderstood by family and friends. But we just cannot do anything... It's not that people think that after becoming a star, an actor has gained some aura but it's that the time is not in my hand. At the end of the day what I can do is make my family understand.

-PTI