Detective Byomkesh Bakshy Updates: IN CINEMAS NOW! - Page 74

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput's upcoming film, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, directed by Dibakar Banerjee, is one of the most awaited releases this year. The film took almost two years to complete and is one of Banerjee's most ambitious projects. That, certainly, gives Sushant a high. The actor is going all out to promote the film and feels that the audience will like his performance as Byomkesh Bakshi, the urbane Bengali sleuth, created by author Saradindu Bandopadhyay.

However, Sushant also says that pulling off the character wasn't a cakewalk for him given that he wasn't much acquainted with the Bengali culture. "It was difficult but I have always loved to take risks. I always think myself to be the character before I take on a role and always do my research before I start shooting," says Sushant, ant, who made his big Bollywood debut with h Abhishek Kapoor's Kai Po Che.

In fact, Sushant made sure that he got t a fair understanding of the Bengali culture e before he started shooting for the film. "That was one of the reasons I spent a few months in Kolkata before I started shooting for the he film. Dibakar even made ade sure that I accompany himhi for the recce so that I get a feel of the Bengali culture. I too went and met a few Bengali families to understand their lifestyle, the way Bengali men behave, eat, talk and how they thought during the 1940 when the World War II was going on and the country was on the verge of becoming independent. It helped me a lot," says Sushant, who will also be seen playing Mahendra Singh Dhoni in ana upcoming biopic on the Indian cricket captain.

ThatT the film is set in the 1940s194 made things even moremo challenging for Sushant.S The actor, however, made sure that he left no stone unturned to get into the skin of the character. Learning to wear a dhoti, says Sushant, was just one of the few minor challenges.

T here were bigger challenges. Byomkesh Bakshi is a character every Bengali has grown up with and our objective is to now take the character to the non-Bengalis. At the same time I know the Bengali audience too will have high expectations from the film. Dibakar has given a lot of effort and we too have given our best. It is an experiment we are doing and it's a big risk. So, the focus wasn't just on wearing a dhoti and looking like a Bengali of the 1940's. Initially, I felt uncomfortable wearing a dhoti but that was for the first two days. I started wearing a dhoti even at home. I started living the character. I do that with all the characters I play. I can now wear a dhoti even with my eyes closed," laughs the actor.