Last name hungry, first name always.... We rise by lifting others.... Before you judge me make sure you are perfect.... Take care of the people who take care of you.... It’s the evening of September 30, and t2 is scanning the “inspirational lines” framed on a wall of Jeet’s south Calcutta office. “These lines are important to me,” smiles Jeet, swivelling in his chair to look up at the picture frames. Jeet’s Abhimaan, also starring Subhashree and Sayantika, directed by Raj Chakraborty, releases today. A t2 chat.

How important is it for you to have a Puja release?

It’s like my gift to my fans. Puja is always special for all of us. People have showered me with so much love, and it is my responsibility to deliver entertaining films with ideas and content. If I have a film release during festivals, it’ll give people  some kind of happiness. Abhimaan is an entertainer with a lot of soul. There is action, comedy and romance. Abhimaan is a film with a lot of heart.
 
What are your Puja plans?

Post-release, I’ll spend some time with family and friends. And then I’ll be off to Europe with my family on a holiday. I’ve been working for the last 10 months almost without a break. On a personal level I had a target of doing three films this year, which is complete with Abhimaan. I can’t go pandal-hopping during Puja, so I thought this is the best time for me to go on a vacation. So I’ll make sure that I enjoy Puja for a couple of days and then leave on Ashtami. The city gets so vibrant, beautiful, energetic during Puja... people are so happy.
 
What are your thoughts on the list of films releasing this Puja?

I wish all the films ‘best of luck’. So many talents, so many ideas, so many investors... so much of money and expectations are involved. I hope all the films do well. But it is not a very good practice to have so many releases at one given point of time. The amount of business gets diluted. It is important that those driving the industry sit and discuss together how to space out films. Maybe post-Puja, we’ll be in a situation to figure that out. But it is also true that during Puja people have a lot of money to spend on entertainment. So everyone wants to release their films at that point of time.  
 
 

Your Abhimaan is releasing alongside Zulfiqar, starring Dev...

Comparisons I know will happen but it is not a good practice. I feel if comparisons have to be made it should be with my last work. We are all one fraternity, one industry, we are all colleagues, we meet each other... so it doesn’t matter which one works and which doesn’t work. Comparisons should only be made with my past work. Zulfiqar is looking good. I wish them all the best. 
 
Is the name of your film a nod to Amitabh Bachchan?

When we were shooting lots of people had asked me, ‘Is this the same thing?’ It is not the same film. The name is just a co-incidence. But I am happy Mr Bachchan’s had an Abhimaan and I have one too (smiles)! At least there is one Abhimaan in my body of work! That film was loved by people and I hope the same happens with mine. The title came from director Raj Chakraborty, and we all liked it at one go. It is an apt title for the film. Abhimaan is ego... we all have it, and if we hold on to our egos we lose so many things, beautiful relationships, in life.  

What is Jeet’s abhimaan? When do you feel it?

I don’t know when it happens but abhimaan oboshhoi hoy. Abhimaan happens when the expectations I have from someone are not met. But it is good to live without those.  

How do you deal with your abhimaan?

I don’t hold on to those things. You don’t have to even tell me sorry. Just realise my point of view and give me my space. One sorry that has the realisation in it is good for me.  
 
Your last film Badshah — The Don was shot in Bangladesh and London. Abhimaan goes to Italy and Switzerland...

We travelled a lot this time. First time I crossed a border... the Swiss border... in a car. We checked out roadside restaurants on the highway there and had dinner.  I like everything about Europe. It’s colourful, has lots of open spaces and warm people... the cities in Europe are so clean and beautiful. I like the way they preserve their history. We would have sunlight till 8.30pm. We would shoot for 11-12 hours, starting around 9am.
 
What did you do after the shoot? 

We were travelling from one city to another. We started from Rome. After the schedule got over, we chilled out for two days. I did some shopping. Only, we couldn’t do much in Milan, because most of the restaurants and shops were shut.     
  
Abhimaan is your third film with both Subhashree and Sayantika as your leading ladies...

Both have grown as actors. Both aspire to do a lot of good work... they bonded like sisters and they are playing sisters in the film. Both of them were always in sync. Like sa-re-ga-ma! One cracks something, the other seconds it.

Did anything surprise you during the shoot?

We had one incident involving a drone. Drone shots look beautiful. We were doing one drone shot in Italy and the cops came and stopped the shoot... took away the camera. The local production talked it out with  them and finally they understood, saw reason, why and what we were doing. There were some legal nitty-gritty and finally the situation got resolved.  

We see you interacting with the local people in a song. Did you also improvise on location?

We came up with lots of ideas. Thankfully we had local producers who helped out with the translations. The scene where you see me helping an old lady... that’s was my idea. The old lady was there and we figured out a scene. The idea of the song is to build up the image of the character... you get to know these are the colours he has... that he has a lot of heart.  
 
Abhimaan has this one fun number called Selfie song. Do you take selfies?!

Not much (laughs)... But I am okay with it. We wanted a dance number, and these tracks are very helpful for mainstream commercial films. We have melodious songs and also peppy dance numbers in the film. All the songs have done really well. Suddho Roy (music director) is a talented guy and he has done a good job... has made space for himself... I’m happy for him. And numbers like Selfie song connect very well with kids also.

How was it working with Raj Chakraborty?

I have been in talks with Raj for one-and-a-half years. And the final meeting where we had something constructive to discuss happened on the sets of Bigg Boss Bangla when Raj came over as a guest. This is my third film with Raj. I like working with him. He has very good energy, he is a positive guy, very passionate about his work. His body of work speaks enough about him. He is always trying to bring in something new.

Arindam Chatterjee
I feel abhimaan when.... Tell t2@abp.in