Tota Roy Choudhury can proudly say with much satisfaction that he’s a self-made individual and not any crafted paper tiger. Well that’s how he likes to be – straight forward, nothing to hide and always headstrong just like his on screen characters.
However, that doesn’t mean it was a cakewalk for him to survive in a cut throat industry. The seasoned actor, too, had to battle against nepotism and favouritism in his career.
“Nepotism poses a massive challenge to any deserving newcomer. I also had to endure a constant fight against it throughout my career. Sometimes, I missed out on films or got replaced at the very last minute. ” said Tota .
Sharing his own experiences the popular actor further said: “Sometimes the leading lady preferred someone else opposite her. Even after doing a critically acclaimed film like Chokher Bali,I was sitting at home for six months without any work whereas my co-stars in the same film were flooded with offers. It felt so unfair. There have been incidents, when my best scenes were omitted, my photos were not there in publicity materials or the script was rewritten even while the photography of the same film was underway. It happened because the hero might have exercised his clout.”
The versatile actor adds he had ventured into the south and Mumbai film industry, where he was welcomed with a lot of warmth. Today, the versatile actor thanks himself for not sitting at home brooding at that time. “We actors don’t stick to one industry. We are part of the film fraternity as a whole, we are Indian actors. Each actor from each part of the country can aim to make a mark and rightly so, achieves it now! People are now willing to work with actors from any part of the country. That’s why I am receiving such good offers today,” explains the versatile actor.
Tota is also the newest entrant in the Bengali detective club as he plays the iconic sleuth Feluda in Srijit Mukherji’s ‘Feluda Pherot’ and an elated Tota says playing Feluda was the only item left on his bucket list. So, how was he chosen as Satyajit Ray’s immortal creation Feluda, we had asked the seasoned actor.
“Srijit called me up and said he had four names in mind for Feluda. Of the four, he would choose one on several parameters, one of them being an audience poll. Some of the other parameters were his perception of the character and the dates of the actors. He also mentioned that the actor chosen would need to get into an extensive workshop for a month and a half. He wanted to know my schedule; I was also supposed to go for a look test. However, two days before the audition, he dropped the idea of a look test and confirmed me for the role,” revealed Tota who has made his mark in Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, and Tamil cinema with his praiseworthy performances for years.
Speaking about the current scenario and the COVID crisis, Tota says he feels heartbroken to see the trauma everyone is going through. Just like his industry colleagues and friends, Tota has also been quite active on social media spreading awareness. The actor has urged everyone to get vaccinated to fight the second wave of the pandemic.
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