Prosenjit Chatterjee

Prosenjit Chatterjee
Born	(1962-09-30) 30 September 1962 Kolkata, India
Height	174 cm (5' 8½")
Spouse(s)	Debashree Roy (1992-1995, divorced) Aparna Guhathakurta (1997-2002, divorced) Arpita Pal (2002–present)
Website
www.prosenjit.in

Prosenjit Chatterjee (also Prosenjeet Chatterjee or Prosenjit Chattopadhyay (Bengali: প্রসেনজিৎ চট্টোপাধ্যায় Prosenjit Chôṭṭopaddhae; born 30 September 1962), professionally known as Proshenjit, is a Bengali film actor. His fans affectionately called him Bumba Da. In rural Bengal he is addressed as Poshenjit. His rural fan base led him to do many films which had rustic storylines, films intellectuals shied away from. But his popularity was undeniable. Since 2003 with Rituparno Ghosh's Chokher Bali (co-starring Aishwarya Rai) he has acted in numerous films that won critical acclaim. In 2007 he received the National Award Silver Lotus for his performance in Dosar. He had acted in over 279 films as of October 2009. He is the Chief Mentor at International Institute of Photography in Kolkata to guide young talents.

Prosenjit has been the leading star of Bengali (West Bengal) commercial cinema for the past two decades.

Family background

Prosenjit is the only son of Biswajeet, the actor from Tollygunge who carved a niche in Hindi cinema in the 1960s, Prosenjit made his debut when he was just four years old in his father's Chhotto Jignasa (The Tiny Question). The film was a big hit and little Boomba’s fresh and natural performance warmed hearts in full theatres in 1969. It was back to school after that. His parents divorced; at age of sixteen, Prosenjit was left with the responsibility of his family consisting of his mother and little sister Pallavi Chatterjee, now an actress in her own right.Recently he host a family reality show in zee bangla 'Banglar Sera Paribar'.He also produced a bengoli serial as a producer with his wife arpita which is normally telecast in zee bangla.The name of the serial is 'kanakanjali'.

However due to his father's role in his parents' separation, he and his sister Pallavi have little or no contact, at least officially, with him.

Prosenjit also got a request from Shoojit to play the role of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in Jaffna.

Personal life

He attended Calcutta Airport English High School (H.S.) up to class 10. He attended St. Xavier's Collegiate School and St. Xavier's College, Calcutta. Prosenjit lives in Kolkata with his wife, actress Arpita Pal, and their son Trishanjit. He has had two previous marriages with Debashree Roy and Aparna Guhathakurta.

Film career

He made his debut as hero in Duti Pata (1983), a teenage romance along the lines of Bobby. The film filled a vacuum in Bengali cinema through its look and mounting, distanced from stereotypical Bangla films of the time. It turned out to be a super-duper hit and, overnight, Prosenjit found stardom thrust on him.

He considers the character of Koushik, the husband in Rituparno Ghosh's Dosar (2006) as his most challenging role.

"The story begins with Koushik cheating on his wife, spending a weekend with another woman and then running into a near-fatal accident. He sustains severe injuries and most of the time, I was horizontal and had to emote only through my eyes. None of my body parts moved except my eyes. It was extremely exhausting in a physical sense. It was also challenging because the Indian audience does not generally accept such characters."

Amar Shangi (1987) opposite Vijayeta Pandit, Apon Amaar Apon (1990) directed by Tarun Majumdar and Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Ami, Yaseen Aar Amaar Madhubala (2007) are the three outstanding films of his career. The song "Chirodini Tumi Je Amar" from Amar Shangi remains a hot favourite among lovers of Bengali music. In fact, Amar Shangi was his turning-point film. Prosenjit did not have to look back after that.

Among the 50 or so leading ladies he has acted with, he rates Debashree Roy (whom he was once married to) as the best. "She is outstanding and completely dedicated to her work. I have worked with her in more than 25 films. It is a pleasure to be cast opposite her in any film and I would welcome the opportunity any time she agrees to act with me. Many talented young women faded away into oblivion, constantly throwing up the challenge of creating new and talented leading ladies in the Bengali film industry," says Prosenjit. Satabdi Roy takes top place as his heroine, having acted with him in more than 50 films. He has done 35 films with Rachana Banerjee, 50 with Rituparna Sengupta, around 16 with Indrani Haldar and four with his wife Arpita Pal.

Prosenjit made an attempt to make it in Bollywood in 1990 when played the role of Mumtaz's son in her disastrous comeback film Aandhiyan. It was directed by David Dhawan. The story revolves around aspirations where his ordinary wife would be a disturbing factor. The son (played by Prosenjit) grows up to take revenge and finally unites his parents. The film disappeared without a trace. But this did not stop Prosenjit from playing the hero in the Mehul Kumar directed Meet Mere Man Ke (1991) alongside Ayesha Jhulka, Feroz Khan and Salma Agha. This, too, was a disaster after which Prosenjit decided to came back to his roots, choosing to become numero uno in his home state rather than becoming a bit-star doing secondary roles in Bollywood films. After 21 years he made a comeback to Bollywood in Dibakar Banerjee's Shanghai.

One of the best works of Prosenjit is as Arun Chatterjee in Srijit Mukherjee's Autograph. His first ever produced film Bapi Bari Jaa hit the theatres on 7 December 2012.

Awards

• Won-National Film Award - Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film) (2007) for Dosar
• Won-Stardust Award for Best Supporting Actor(2013) for Shanghai (2012 film)