Paoli Dam - Moner Manush with Prosenjit Chatterjee

Power puff girl

FITNESS EXPERT CHINMOY ROY PUTS PAOLI THROUGH THE PACES ONLY TO FIND THAT SHE PACKS A REAL PUNCH

I like throwing challenges at my trainees — the idea is to tap the potential they aren’t aware of yet. Though Paoli Dam appears frail from the outside, she gets a huge kick from challenges. When she came to me to shape up, only a month was left for Goutam Ghose’s Moner Manush to roll. Paoli was fascinated by her character (of a widowed baul singer) and was ready to walk the extra mile. Till then, all Paoli had by way of training experience was a feel of the gym and some familiarity with the cardio machines. I did a reality check at the outset. No shortcuts to the Kareena Kapoor look — it would be all sweat and toil. “I believe in hard work and I won’t mind it,” said Paoli. She learnt the lifting technique in about a week. Unlike other women who are apprehensive that weight training would make them muscular, Paoli had no reservations. Cable chest press, squat and rotational press, alternate rows and horizontal pull-ups became a part of her routine within the next few weeks. Paoli lost around 10mm of skinfold during training. And it surely stood her in good stead during the Moner Manush shoot. “The shoot schedules were long and demanding but my workout helped me withstand the strain. I never felt drained. Now I am eager to work more on my fitness,” she told me after returning from the shoot. Ladder drills & running with parachutes I started with ladder drills and resistance run at the gym. Paoli picked up the quick feet ladder drills within a few days. I had another girl to train with her to bring in a competitive edge. Paoli’s attitude told me that she liked the competition as her stride frequency went up by a few notches. But it was her cricketing skills that surprised me the most. I often use a lot of fielding drills in my interval runs. So, one day I asked her if she would be game for some fielding activity with a soft cricket ball. Paoli was ready for the action. Just to test her, I lobbed the ball at her a few times and she got it right between her palms every time. I suggested that we start training outdoors, and next day off we went to the Rabindra Sarobar stadium. At the stadium, Paoli’s cardio endurance, especially the cross drills and pyramid intervals, caught the eye of some Nigerian footballers who were practising in another corner. Watching her run with a pair of parachutes tucked at the waist, one of them came forward to compliment Paoli on her hard work. So, how did she like training out in the sun? “It’s incredible! The sun and the green grass added a spring in my step. I felt so energised,” said she. Punch and duck One of my favourite drills is punch and duck. Here, I would stand in front of Paoli wearing a pair of mitts. In between her punches, I would pretend to hit her back and she had to duck. Paoli’s reaction was spot on. “Back home, I am practising punch and duck on my brother!” she laughed. Cardio kickboxing Knowing how people get bored with the banal machine cardio, I gave Paoli cardio kickboxing for a change and she was hooked from Day One. “It’s too captivating to miss,” she said. I started with simple punches and basic kicks. The intention was to pump her adrenaline and let the heart rate shoot. Her superior flexibility ensured a nice range in her kicks. I gave Paoli one or two-minute breaks to see if she could sustain the intensity. Whenever the punches turned soft, I would shout at her. And Paoli, exhausted but provoked, would strike back with all her might. She would gasp for breath and mumble: “I may be struggling but I am not going to give up. I believe in winning.”

Who do you think is the fittest actor/actress in Tollywood? Tell t2@abpmail.com Pictures by Pabitra Das; make-up: Aniruddha Chakladar; styling: Sandy

KAGOJER BOU

Bedtime story

- Joy and Paoli get under the sheets and steam up the sea at Mandarmani for Bappaditya’s Kagojer Bou. A t2 first look

(Top and above) Foreplay time for Joy and Paoli in bed; (below) the duo shoot a song sequence on the Mandarmani beach

Last week, Joy Sengupta and Paoli Dam had a steamy time in a Mandarmani hotel — just for the camera, of course.

The scene being shot for Bappaditya Bandopadhyay’s Kagojer Bou, where Joy is seen caressing and kissing Paoli’s bare back, marks the start of a love-making sequence that is yet to be shot. “It’s an important scene in the film. Joy plays a married man who is obsessed with Paoli. All the characters of Kagojer Bou are driven by lust, money and power,” said Bappaditya.

“Would anyone believe that Kagojer Bou doesn’t have a script yet! So, we don’t know what will happen next. In this scene, we do everything that precedes love-making but we are yet to find out if we will be shown making love. We are given the dialogues on the day of the shoot. It’s a very interesting way of filmmaking and it’s a first for me,” said Paoli.

Joy and Paoli also shot a song sequence on the beach where she flaunted her new toned legs. “I am so happy that I’m not stuck in the image of a sari-clad, depressed woman! Here, I sport hot pants, tight tops, minis and even a bikini!” adds Paoli, now busy shooting in Goa for Anindya Sarkar’s Keu Bole Buro Bham.

PAOLI with PROSENJIT shooting for GAUTAM GHOSH'S MONER MANUSH

Lalan Fakir’s nest

Lalan fakir’s life is being played out in the chilapata forests for goutam ghose’s moner manush — a t2 exclusive

A four-hour drive from New Jalpaiguri takes you to the heart of the dense Chilapata forests in north Bengal, where Team Goutam Ghose is shooting for Moner Manush. By the banks of Bania river, Bollywood’s ace art director Samir Chanda has created Lalan Fakir’s akhra with some thatched huts and tree houses. The cast and crew are loving it as much as some of the forest’s inhabitants. The elephants, for instance. Some jumbos had playfully flattened Chanda’s creations a few days back. But despite the forest department’s warning to pack up before sundown, Ghose and his team are sweating it out till the mist settles in the dark. And no one’s complaining — neither bearded Prosenjit who’s sitting out for hours with layers of make-up, nor bare-back Paoli whose dress code is just a cotton sari in the chilly hills. t2 takes you around the Moner Manush sets... “Oi dekh, sadhubaba!” cried out a woman from the crowd that had thronged the shooting site, pointing at Prosenjit. With a dark pock-marked face, shoulder-length hair and an untended beard, the Tollywood hero is roaming around incognito on the sets of Moner Manush. “Doing the make-up is the toughest part. I wake up at 4am to start the make-up. The pock marks take a long time. It’s difficult to eat with this make-up on. So I sip juices and have a slice of apple for lunch,” said Prosenjit. He doesn’t mind the commotion, he is so lost in the world of Lalan. So even when he doesn’t have any shots, Prosenjit potters around the sets, sometimes humming a song and sometimes watching his co-actors quietly from a corner. Taking in the river breeze, Prosenjit spends his spare time strumming the ektara under the watchful gaze of his “mentor” Golam Fakir. “I have taught Bumbada how to play the ektara and dance like the bauls,” smiled the fakir from Nadia, who is playing a baul in the film. Paoli rehearses for a song sequence in the akhra. “I am excited as I am dancing in this song. It is the only dance in the film. The famous Bangladeshi singer Farida Parveen has done the playback,” chirped Paoli. On a cold December morning, Ghose made Paoli take a dip in the Bania and traipse along a cobbled forest track with a pitcher full of water resting on her hips. Paoli plays Kamli, a widow who takes shelter in Lalan’s akhra in Shimultala, in the film. “The water was freezing cold!” stammered a drenched Paoli after the shot. “Playing Kamli is a learning experience for me. It’s very difficult to walk with a pitcher brimming with water. The most difficult part is walking up the bamboo steps to the river.” Bangladeshi fashion designer Bibi Russell has done the costumes for Moner Manush along with Ghose’s wife Nilanjana. “It’s my first film project. I have given Bumba (Prosenjit) khadi kurta and dhoti, which he wears like a lungi. I have also given him a tulsi mala, which was a gift for me from a baul singer. I told Bumba that it would be lucky for him,” smiled Bibi. Bangladeshi actor Chanchal, who plays Lalan’s friend Kalua in Moner Manush, is excited about sharing screen space with Prosenjit. “I have grown up watching his films and he is so humble. Look at how he has completely transformed himself!” said Chanchal, who had impressed Ghose with his theatre act back in Bangladesh. For the villagers of Uttar Chokwakheti, who are having their first brush with a film crew, the shoot is turning out to be as much fun as a circus. With the crowd swelling behind him, Ghose, who is also the cinematographer, used a crane to take top shots of Paoli bathing in the river. “I have done the cinematography for all my films. It’s strenuous if you are the director and cinematographer at the same time, but I am habituated. I understand the film better when I shoot myself,” smiled Ghose.

TEEN MURTI

PAOLI'S TEEN MURTI Releasing on Dec.18,2009.

Teen Murti, the bengali feature film written by Late Tapan Sinha and Directed by Raja Sen, starring Ranjit Mullik, Manoj Mitra, Dipankar Dey, Sabitri Chatterjee and Paoli is releasing on December 18, 2009.

Please visit the following website for the details -

http://teenmurtithemovie.com

PAOLI

PAOLI’S BODY WRAP

Wrapped in a silky white satin robe, Paoli Dam shot her 26th ad commercial, for a body oil brand. “I love doing ad shoots. Ad films are fast. We finish the shoot in two-three days and we have to create a character within this short span of time, which is challenging!” she smiles. Paoli is also gearing up to shoot for Moner Manush, Goutam Ghose’s film on Lalan Fakir. She plays Kamli, a widow who joins Lalan’s group. “There’s the hint of a relationship between Lalan and Kamli. But I am excited because I will be shooting in Bangladesh for the film,” says Paoli, who is also looking forward to the release of Sharon Dutta’s Thana Theke Ashchhi and Bratya Basu’s Tara, where she has pretty hatke roles.

Paoli wins Award

Best of Bong

Star Ananda Shera Bangali 2009 awards ceremony at Science City on Friday evening celebrated bong connection at its best

Paoli Dam

The Kalbela star was the Fresh Face of the year. Dressed in a lovely red and white ikkat teamed with a maroon antique gold tie-up blouse, the would-be international star (she will feature in Italo Spinelli’s film Choli Ke Peechhe) was excited. “I am happy to be part of an international project, though I derive satisfaction from working in Bengali films because that’s where my roots are,” said the dusky beauty who received the award from singer Shreya Ghoshal. “I have no inhibitions as an actress,” she stressed.

Thana Theke Aschhi

Two of a kind

Parambrata and Paoli on the sets of Thana Theke Ashchhi. (Aranya Sen) Parambrata Chattopadhyay and Paoli, the lead actors of Sharan Dutta’s Thana Theke Ashchhi, were a little edgy on the sets and not without reason. For January was the last time when Parambrata faced the camera (for 033), before turning director with Jiyo Kaka!. And since Paoli’s character doesn’t have a single dialogue in the film, she was all knotted up to get her body language right. Sweating in the sweltering heat at Bharat Lakshmi Studio on Prince Anwar Shah Road, Parambrata laughed: “Sometimes I think why am I in front of the camera? I should be behind it!” Paoli chirped: “I am enjoying my work more than ever before. My character goes through various phases. Her interaction with each character in the film is different. The novelty is that she doesn’t utter a single word. That is the most challenging part because I have to emote through my eyes. And since I have no dialogues I am making up my own to suit the scenes.” Paoli and Parambrata have been paired together for the third time in Thana Theke Ashchhi, after Kalbela and Box No. 1313. “We are a lot more comfortable working with each other now,” they chorused. In Thana Theke Ashchhi, Parambrata plays Arin, a filmmaker whom Paoli meets for a job. “Arin is perhaps the only character in the film who truly loves my character. The rest — Rudranil Ghosh, Aloknanda Roy, Srabonti and Dulal Lahiri — look down upon her,” said Paoli. The film also stars Sabyasachi Chakraborty. Though Paoli’s role seems to have shades of Madhabi Mukherjee’s character in the Uttam Kumar-starrer Thana Theke Ashchhi, director Sharan insists his film is inspired by the stage adaptation of Thana Theke Ashchhi. “Paoli is not playing Madhabidi, neither is Benuda (Sabyasachi) playing Uttam Kumar in my film. It was my idea that Paoli’s character shouldn’t have any dialogue in the film,” said Sharan before rushing for the next shot.

KUSHALI NAG