'The Game Of Power Can Be Ruthless...': Director Sourav Chakraborty On His Idea Behind Making 'Rajneeti'
Directed by Sourav Chakraborty, 'Rajneeti' and 'Aabar Rajneeti' showcase the power dynamics in Rijpur, where there is no black or white, but only grey.
After an engaging Season 1, 'Rajneeti' is back on the Bengali OTT platform Hoichoi as 'Abar Rajneeti', with Koneenica Banerjee, Ditipriya Roy, Arjun Chakraborty, and Kaushik Ganguly reprising their roles, as 'Rijpur' gears up for elections. An intense tale of power and politics surrounds the 'Banerjee House', showing that the game extends way beyond political parties, election campaigns, and policies. Politics, being an intrinsic part of human nature, runs in the Banerjee household across generations, affecting family members in different ways.
Directed by Sourav Chakraborty, the series showcases the power dynamics in Rijpur, where there is no black or white, but only grey. In a conversation with ABP Live over a video call, Sourav spoke about his idea behind creating such a series and the kind of response he expected from the audience.
"We wanted to do a political thriller since there has not been much work in and around this genre in the Bengali film industry, by delving into the depths of a politically strong family- where politics surrounds the four walls and runs in the blood of all its members," he said, adding, "We also wanted to indicate that the game of power can be ruthless, even if it's among family members. All these things came together when we were planning the story and fictionising it, ensuring that the storyline turns out to be engaging, yet easy to understand," he said.
The Storyline:
'Rajneeti' delves into the nuances of a politically strong family where each member desires the throne showing that the game is not just between two political parties. In real life, we have seen politics running in the blood of certain families which has produced generations of leaders and have often wondered what goes on within the four walls. This story intricately carves out an intense story of power dynamics and to the extent one can do gain power.
Talking about the idea of such a gripping storyline, Chakraborty said, "As humans, we always have the urge to know what is going on inside a family of politicians, marking the beginning of this creation. We then tried to show how both the inner and outer worlds of such a family impact its members and change their lives."
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The Performances:
The show stars Koneenika Banerjee as 'Mallika', Kaushik Ganguly in dual roles as 'Pratim Banerjee' and 'Rathin Banerjee', Ditipriya Roy as 'Rashi', and others.
Sourav said, "Each of them is a great actor and I consider myself and my team very lucky that we got a chance to work with them- especially Kaushik Da, Koneenika, Arjun, Ditipriya and everyone else. When we see the characters coming alive on camera, it's really satisfying. Many times it has happened while shooting that I have become so engrossed in their performances that I even forgot to say 'cut'."
"We were a bit tensed before Season 1 because we didn't have any such data to understand whether the audience likes this kind of a show. But, we saw people discussing the characters, and the story and expressing their opinions after Season 1 was released. This was encouraging for us and we thought of making the second season. In fact, after making Season 2, we noticed people going back to the first season again, which is an added applause as we wanted the two seasons to remain integrated," he added.
Sourav's Other Projects:
Apart from the 'Rajneeti' franchise, Sourav has also worked on other series like 'Dhanbad Blues', 'Shwetkali' and many more.
He said, "I am very lucky to have got a chance to work on a story like 'Shwetkali' which has a very different narrative. As a director, me and my team ensure that things don't get repeated or we don't get trapped in our comfort zones, and the audience has also beautifully accepted our urge to explore and experiment. Even while we are selecting stories, we try to bring up different sectors, and different people and preserve the time frame of the story in the narrative."
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