Introducing, Anurag Basu… The actor
Anurag Basu is in Kolkata doing a role in Onir’s Afia, with Nandita Das
Unlike the directors mentioned alongside, Anurag Basu has had no previous experience in acting.
Onir explains why he asked Basu to act in his film, “I needed a certain look, a gravity and an authority in the personality.
I also needed someone Bengali because it’s the role of a Bengali doctor who explains the pros and cons of sperm donation to Nandita Das. I couldn’t get an actor who was the right age but lacked the serious image because of his off screen image (Onir mentions a Kapoor character- actor).”
Same name as dad
Eerily, Onir unknowingly named Anurag Basu’s character after the latter’s dad. Says Onir, “I had no idea Anurag’s father’s name was Dr Subrato Basu. That’s Anurag’s name in my film. Anurag was deeply touched by the coincidence. He’s taking the nameplate for his character’s residence back home with him to show his mother.”
After all the hue and cry over the release of Kites, Anurag needed an excuse to get away from Mumbai. The role in Onir’s film was just the change he needed. Anurag’s links with Kolkata go back a long way. Besides being a Bengali he has done a TV adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore’s Nauka Dubi.
Source: Mid-Day
