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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsIn a 2023 interview with Scroll, Bengali actor Prosenjit Chatterjee reflected on 15 roles spanning commercial romance, experimental films and character drama. The selection is not a ranked verdict: it is a career retrospective told through the actor’s memories of the parts, films and directors that shaped how audiences saw him.
Devarsi Ghosh’s interview, published by Scroll on April 15, 2023, ranges from Chatterjee’s early commercial successes to the then-recent Shesh Pata and Jubilee. References in the interview to films being “currently in theatres” belong to that 2023 context; this is a career conversation, not a current release or streaming guide.
How Chatterjee describes his changing screen identity
Chatterjee recalls being typecast as a romantic hero for seven or eight years after Amar Sangi, then moving toward action roles with Asha O Bhalobasha. In his account, collaborations with Rituparno Ghosh, Goutam Ghose and Buddhadeb Dasgupta helped audiences reconsider him. He summed up the shift: “Suddenly, Prosenjit became Prosenjit babu.” That is the actor’s retrospective on his career, not an independently measured account of industry-wide change.
His explanation of acting also puts preparation at the centre: “I take a lot of time to get under the skin of a character. I prep a lot.” The selected roles give different examples of that approach, from building a character’s speech to learning Baul songs and mannerisms.
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The 15 roles, grouped by the kind of work they show
The interview does not score or rank the roles against one another. The groupings below are an editorial way to navigate its selection, retaining the film titles and transliterations used in the interview.
Early commercial romances
- Alok in Duti Pata (1983), directed by Bimal Roy Jr. Alok is an affluent young man who falls for a rural woman. Chatterjee recalls the film’s success and says that after Amar Sangi he truly took off as a commercial hero.
- Sagar in Amar Sangi (1987), directed by Sujit Guha. Sagar falls in love with a domestic worker’s daughter. Chatterjee calls the film a turning point and links it to a Hindi-style mix of romance, dance, songs and action entering Bangla films.
Roles that challenged the familiar image
- Mahendra in Chokher Bali (2003), directed by Rituparno Ghosh. Mahendra is a rich, narcissistic adulterer who avoids responsibility. Chatterjee discusses the project’s financing and casting history. He says people outside Bengal still ask him, “aapne Chokher Bali kiya tha na?”—“You did Chokher Bali, right?”
- Paresh in Swapner Din (2004), directed by Buddhadeb Dasgupta. Paresh is a government employee who travels through villages screening family-planning films and longs for an actress he once saw crying on screen. Chatterjee recalls the director’s unusual shooting schedule and the crowds when filming in Bolpur.
- Kaushik in Dosar (2006), directed by Rituparno Ghosh. After an accident involving his lover, Kaushik is bedridden and cared for by his wife. Chatterjee remembers Ghosh asking him to communicate through his eyes; he also describes shaping the voice for mumbled, coughing dialogue.
- Indranil in Shob Choritro Kalponik (2009), directed by Rituparno Ghosh. Indranil is a self-absorbed poet whose relationship with his pragmatic wife is strained. Chatterjee sees him as misunderstood and lost in his own world.
- Biplab in Clerk (2010), directed by Subhadra Chowdhury. A typist escapes a mundane life through fantasies in his apartment. Chatterjee calls the film experimental and says its release did not reach viewers at the time.
Transformation, performance and period worlds
- Lalon in Moner Manush (2010), directed by Goutam Ghose. The film portrays the Bengali mystic, poet, philosopher and social reformer. Chatterjee says he spent nine months preparing, learning from Bauls who stayed in his home and working on their manner, body language and songs. “I did not work on any other film for nine months,” he said.
- Arun Chatterjee in Autograph (2010), directed by Srijit Mukherji. Arun is a superstar cast in a remake of Satyajit Ray’s Nayak. Chatterjee says the film changed how people talked about him; afterward, he declared he would stop doing violent action films.
- Probir Roy Chowdhury in Baishe Srabon (2011), directed by Srijit Mukherji. A temperamental police officer is called in to catch a serial killer. Chatterjee says he played the character’s rowdy attitude naturally rather than making the profanity the focus.
- Dr Ahmadi in Shanghai (2012), directed by Dibakar Banerjee. An activist’s assassination sets politically consequential events in motion. Chatterjee describes his own part as small, but important and memorable.
- Kushal Hazra / Hensman Anthony in Jaatishwar (2014), directed by Srijit Mukherji. A librarian believes he was Anthony Firingee in a past life. The interview describes Anthony Firingee as a Bengali poet and singer-songwriter of Portuguese origin; Chatterjee says he shaved his head for the role.
- Sushovan in Mayurakshi (2017), directed by Atanu Ghosh. Sushovan visits his father, who is sliding into dementia. Chatterjee calls the chance to work with Soumitra Chatterjee a major gift of the film and describes how their personal rapport helped them perform a scene together.
Recent work in the interview’s 2023 frame
- Balmiki Sengupta in Shesh Pata (2023), directed by Atanu Ghosh. A successful writer withdraws after a tragedy. Chatterjee says the character’s unpredictable temperament and distinct language initially made him uncertain. He prepared by thinking through Balmiki’s language and pronunciation.
- Srikant Roy in Jubilee (2023), directed by Vikramaditya Motwane. Srikant is a cunning studio boss focused on making money. Chatterjee describes him as a businessman responsible for running his “kingdom” and considers the character within the studio world of the 1940s.
What connects the selection—and what it does not claim
The roles move across romance, action, literary adaptation, thriller, experimental drama and family drama. Their value as a set lies in the contrasts: a commercial romantic lead beside a bedridden husband, a serial-killer investigator beside a poet, a studio boss beside a withdrawn writer. The interview’s strongest through-line is Chatterjee’s description of changing audience perceptions and the preparation he brought to particular parts, not a claim that these are objectively his 15 greatest performances.
Rank #2
Chatterjee is candid about the scale and unevenness of his filmography: “I didn’t like all 300-plus films I did. I did some because I was paid well.” The count and assessment are his own recollections in the interview, not independently verified statistics.
Quick Recap
Rank #4
- Top New York Times Pick: Hilarious Memoir by Award-Winning Comedian Zarna Garg
- Bestselling Format: Available in Hardcover and Ebook
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