Chander Pahar has 'larger-than-life' canvas : director

Affirming that he did not look at the box office prospects while choosing the ambitious 'Chander Pahar', extensively shot in African forests and mountain cliffs, 'Meghe Dhaka Tara' director Kamaleswar Mukherjee says the film has been framed on a 'larger-than-life' canvas.
"From casting Deb, the adventurer Shankar in the Bibhutibhusan bandyopadhyay novel, to freezing on camera the lions, black mamba (python) and trekking along dangerous cliffs in the mountains, the mount in Chander Pahar is offcourse larger than life and it is not an art house film," Kamaleswar told PTI here.
Referring to the 40 days' shoot in the land of 'gaboon viper' and lions, Kamaleswar said, "The adventure story line, which had cast a spell on my ever since I laid hands on the novel as a child, demanded real-life scenes and exploits which can be backed up by simple narrative.

"And Chander Pahar won't have any layers with the protagonist being like the youth next door. I won't have cast anyone but Deb for the simple, innocent look and physical frame which fitted with my perception of Shankar," he said.
"Had Deb, who has not been seen in any such roles, not been around, I would have cast a fresh, new face," Kamaleswar said quipping,
"And yes if Deb's larger-than-life persona pulls his crowd base, they can also see the movie. At the end of day one can't segregate audiences, one can't segregate genres," he said.

Kamaleswar, whose 'Meghe Dhaka Tara' got the IFFI Centenary Award 2013 as a feature film that "reflects a new paradigm in motion pictures in terms of aesthetics, technique or technological innovation," said he won't place the upcoming 'magnum opus' side by side with previous flicks like Uro Chithi (based on memories surrounding past smses), or even 'Meghe Dhaka Tara'.

"'Chander Pahar' can be once-in-a-lifetime experience. It can't recur over and over again," he said.
Made by the Sri Venkatesh films at the biggest Rs 15 crore budget for a Bengali movie, the classic-hued film will be released on December 20.