Why Will I Be Bothered?: Saswata Chatterjee On Abhishek Bachchan's Replacement In 'Bob Biswas'

Actor Saswata Chatterjee, who is best known for his role as mild-mannered assassin Bob Biswas in film director Sujoy Ghosh's 2012 film Kahaani, says he is unconcerned about actor Abhishek Bachchan taking over as the contract killer in a standalone film titled 'Bob Biswas'. In an interview with Hindustan Times, the renowned Bengali actor stated that he is not upset  about  Bachchan's replacement in the film. 

He states "Why should I be disappointed? They are making it for the Hindi market; they will look for a bigger name. I did the film in 2012, why will I be bothered about it being made in 2021? I did several characters in between. If I was upset, I would have come out and given so many statements... I didn't bother." 

The film, directed by Diya Annapurna Ghosh and released earlier this month. The film is  a standalone spin-off of Bob Biswas, a serial killer first introduced in her father Ghosh's 2012 film, which starred Bollywood actress Vidya Balan.

Chatterjee stated "thought Bob met with an accident and was dead" which was indeed the fate of Bob Biswas in the movie 'Kahaani'. The actor also expressed his pride in the fact that his performance made the character so "iconic" that  Bachchan agreed to play it.

 "I was proud of myself because I just did a role for 10 minutes. If a full-length feature film is happening with someone whose name is Abhishek Bachchan, then I'm indeed proud," He states. 

Chatterjee, who has appeared in films such as 'Abar Shobor', 'Bhooter Bhobishyot', and 'Goynar Baksho', also revealed that neither Bachchan nor Ghosh reached out to him prior to or during the filming of 'Bob Biswas'. 

He states "When a character is played by two different people it should be played in two different ways. Say, James Bond. Every actor has played it differently and we should accept that. Bob has become a franchise like James Bond" and added that people should go to theatres to watch Bob Biswas "with an open mind."

Bachchan praised  Chatterjee's performance as Bob Biswas in Kahaani earlier this month, calling it "brilliant," and expressing hope that the senior actor would enjoy his "interpretation" of the character in the new film. According to Bachchan, who spoke to NDTV, "Saswata ji is just brilliant. So many years later we are talking about his eight-minute part is just a testimony of his wonderful talent. I hope he sees my Bob and enjoys my interpretation of it." 

Ghosh offered Bachchan the role of Bob Biswas in Kahaani, but he declined because he was committed to 'Bol Bachchan' at the time. On December 3, Bachchan and actress Chitrangda Singh, as well as Bengali actors Paran Bandopadhyay and Ditipriya Roy, debuted on Zee5.