My Apology Letter Moved Tapan Sinha: Soumitra
RBN Web Desk: He is considered a living legend in Indian cinema. In an acting career spanning more than six decades, Soumitra Chatterjee has worked with all leading directors in the Bengali film industry. The actor, in several interviews, has said that Satyajit Ray and Tapan Sinha were two directors who always offered the most challenging roles and brought out the best in him.
Speaking to the media recently about his long association with Tapan Sinha, Soumitra said, once during the shooting of the 1994 film Wheelchair, a particular scene had to be shot several times because he failed to deliver the lines properly. On the sets the next day, Soumitra gave a handwritten apology letter to the director, admitting his mistake because he couldn’t concentrate on the scene. Tapan Sinha was extremely moved, and told every other person in the industry that in his entire filmmaking career, no actor had ever shown such a gesture. He told Soumitra that there’s no need to reshoot the scene, and he will take a satisfactory shot from whatever was canned the earlier day, the actor reminisced.
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Soumitra insisted that being an actor, it was his responsibility to give the perfect shot, until the director liked it. He urged Sinha to let him try once more, and the shot was finally approved after a couple of takes, Soumitra recalled.
Image: Anandabazar Patrika