Shoojit Sorcar makes retro-look 'Open Tee Bioscope'

As he credits 'Vicky Donor' Shoojit Sorcar for making his long time ambition to film the early 90s adolescence in north Kolkata possible, popular contemporary singer-lyricist-now director Anindyo Chatterjee says his debut flick 'Open Tee Bioscope' won't have seen the light of day otherwise.
"We have the right tuning with Shoojitda I guess since the Aparajita Tumi days. And his growing up in north Kolkata neighbourhood evoked the nostalgia as I broached the topic. Without Shoojitda the shooting part won't have been complete and I won't have risked the project," the award winner Antoheen music director told PTI here.
"Stating how he was given total freedom by the Madras Cafe director to flesh out the scenes and sequences, as he had complete faith in me," Anindyo said.

"This was a collaboration between two north Kolkata fanatics having shifted due to work commitments to new places in the city or elsewhere but yearning those days of adolescence when stealing glances of someone was not passe like today's whatsapp, facebook Gen next, when visiting PCOs to dial up the newly acquired number of a girl between classes and rehearsing the conversation 'script' was still the 'in' thing," he said.
"Open Tee Bioscope happens to be the growing up story of all of us, every single adult, may be seen from a boy's point of view. Or everybody's point of view, the child, his gang of friends as well as the elders . They may have become more gadget savvy and speak more outwardly straight-on-the-face but they are as much innocent and simple at heart as we were in their age," Anindyo said.

Reinvoking the 'bioscope' era, when the entire neighbourhood would gather at the para club's compound to watch an Uttam-Suchitra starrer, Anindyo would term Open Tee Bioscope as "Peeping thourh the hole of Time" to see the era when the entire locality would gather on the roof during regular power cuts in summer evenings ."

"We can't recreate those days physically. As there had been sea changes in our social milieu in last couple of years. In the attitude and dialect of the youth, the teenagers, our generation, everybody of today. But cinema has to conjure up reality from the unreal. All our friends who grew up together during those years, from Upal in Chandrabindoo, to others, helped in building up authenticity from the look in frames to the lyrics and soundscape which largely retains that retro feel," he said.

Pointing out certain emotions of teenagers can be universal, running through ages, the teenage protagonist of the movie Riddhi, having wowed audiences with his portrayals in gritty, dark based 'Children's of War' and 'Chirodini Tumi Je Amar 2', said, "Despite missing that para flavor and playing 'khep' football tournaments like Shoojit uncle and Anindyo uncle, I could connect with the little dreams and the heart breaks.
"May be they were not as much world wise as we make out to be," he said.