Actor Jisshu Sengupta reveals the Rituparno Ghosh advice that changed his career
Jisshu Sengupta recalled how a question from Rituparno Ghosh changed his approach to choosing roles. He said the lesson pushed him towards characters essential to the story rather than a conventional hero image.
Actor Jisshu Sengupta has built a career playing a wide range of characters across Bengali cinema, Hindi films and web series. While audiences have often seen him portray complex and morally ambiguous roles, the actor says his approach to choosing characters stems from a lesson he learned from the late acclaimed filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh.
In an exclusive conversation with India Today, Jisshu reflected on his journey as an actor and explained why he has never been driven by the idea of being a conventional hero. "I believe I'm an actor. One question actually changed my entire perspective on choosing characters. I had worked with Rituparno Ghosh on quite a few films. He asked me, 'What do you want to become? You want to become a hero who is an actor, or an actor who is a hero?' I said, 'I want to become an actor who is a hero,'" he said.
The actor admitted that his answer came instinctively at the time, but Ghosh's response left a lasting impact on him. "My understanding was people will say, 'What an actor he is.' So, I said it by default. What he explained to me was, as an actor, you can play the hero, you can play a villain, you can also play a character. And it will help you choose a script," he added.
Jisshu said the conversation fundamentally altered the way he evaluated roles. "So, after that day, and I can't elaborate on what he said, it was a long conversation we had. But the basic point was that he said you should be an actor, but why? Because it can be one scene in the film or it can be the entire film, it can be the protagonist or a grey character, whatever you are playing. Agar woh character ko script se nikal do aap, does the script finish, does the story end there, or is it still running? If it is still going on without that character, then there is no point in doing that character. But if you take the character out of the story and the story becomes incomplete, you should do those characters," he explained.
The advice pushed him to step away from the limitations often associated with traditional leading-man roles and explore a wider range of performances. "From that day, in Bengal also, if I used to do hero roles and all, I started doing villains. I have also started doing character roles, which I enjoy so much," he said.
Jisshu believes that playing unconventional characters has allowed him to discover dimensions of acting that straightforward hero roles often do not offer. "And I have understood one thing: being a hero, you can't fully explore an actor. Because as a hero, you have to be good, you have to do certain things which are sacrosanct as a hero. But as a character, you get so much. As an actor, you experience so much by playing a grey character. And I believe as humans, we are all grey," he added.
He further acknowledged that the definition of a hero has evolved significantly over the years. "When I am playing a hero nowadays, probably the examples of heroes have changed. There are grey characters whom we call anti-heroes. It existed earlier too, but it was limited in the eras I am talking about. Nowadays, it is different," he added.
He concluded, "So, I always wanted to become an actor. And here I am. It is not about choosing a grey character or a positive character or anything like that. I love to play a character that is very important to the story. So, yeah, that is how I chose it."
Jisshu Sengupta was recently seen in Brown, starring Karisma Kapoor and Surya Sharma. Directed by Abhinay Deo, the series is streaming on Zee5.
Actor Jisshu Sengupta has built a career playing a wide range of characters across Bengali cinema, Hindi films and web series. While audiences have often seen him portray complex and morally ambiguous roles, the actor says his approach to choosing characters stems from a lesson he learned from the late acclaimed filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh.
In an exclusive conversation with India Today, Jisshu reflected on his journey as an actor and explained why he has never been driven by the idea of being a conventional hero. "I believe I'm an actor. One question actually changed my entire perspective on choosing characters. I had worked with Rituparno Ghosh on quite a few films. He asked me, 'What do you want to become? You want to become a hero who is an actor, or an actor who is a hero?' I said, 'I want to become an actor who is a hero,'" he said.
The actor admitted that his answer came instinctively at the time, but Ghosh's response left a lasting impact on him. "My understanding was people will say, 'What an actor he is.' So, I said it by default. What he explained to me was, as an actor, you can play the hero, you can play a villain, you can also play a character. And it will help you choose a script," he added.
Jisshu said the conversation fundamentally altered the way he evaluated roles. "So, after that day, and I can't elaborate on what he said, it was a long conversation we had. But the basic point was that he said you should be an actor, but why? Because it can be one scene in the film or it can be the entire film, it can be the protagonist or a grey character, whatever you are playing. Agar woh character ko script se nikal do aap, does the script finish, does the story end there, or is it still running? If it is still going on without that character, then there is no point in doing that character. But if you take the character out of the story and the story becomes incomplete, you should do those characters," he explained.
The advice pushed him to step away from the limitations often associated with traditional leading-man roles and explore a wider range of performances. "From that day, in Bengal also, if I used to do hero roles and all, I started doing villains. I have also started doing character roles, which I enjoy so much," he said.
Jisshu believes that playing unconventional characters has allowed him to discover dimensions of acting that straightforward hero roles often do not offer. "And I have understood one thing: being a hero, you can't fully explore an actor. Because as a hero, you have to be good, you have to do certain things which are sacrosanct as a hero. But as a character, you get so much. As an actor, you experience so much by playing a grey character. And I believe as humans, we are all grey," he added.
He further acknowledged that the definition of a hero has evolved significantly over the years. "When I am playing a hero nowadays, probably the examples of heroes have changed. There are grey characters whom we call anti-heroes. It existed earlier too, but it was limited in the eras I am talking about. Nowadays, it is different," he added.
He concluded, "So, I always wanted to become an actor. And here I am. It is not about choosing a grey character or a positive character or anything like that. I love to play a character that is very important to the story. So, yeah, that is how I chose it."
Jisshu Sengupta was recently seen in Brown, starring Karisma Kapoor and Surya Sharma. Directed by Abhinay Deo, the series is streaming on Zee5.
