Gaurav Chakrabarty

Gaurav Chakrabarty (Bengali: গৌরব চক্রবর্তী) is an Indian (Bengali) actor best known for his portrayal of the character 'Prodipto Lahiri' in the Bengali megaserial Gaaner Oparey that aired on Star Jalsha from June 28, 2010 to April 16, 2011. He hails from a family which has had a legacy of association with the Bengali cultural arena, starting from Jochhon Dastidar and Chandra Dastidar (his paternal great uncle and aunt), Jagadish and Monica Chakrabarty (his paternal grandparents), and his parents, veteran actors Sabyasachi Chakrabarty and Mithu Chakrabarty. He debuted on big screen in Kaushik Ganguly's Rang Milanti, one of the most appreciated films of the year 2011.^[1]

Early life

Chakrabarty, also known by his pet name 'Niki', had his schooling at the Assembly of God Church School in Kolkata.^[2] He subsequently earned a degree in Mass Communication and Videography from St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, and completed his postgraduation in Video Editing from the Film and Television Institute of India at Pune (FTII).^[3]

Career

Gaurav got involved in theatre from a young age as part of the group Charbak, where he not only assisted in the backstage work (audio technician in the play Rong, Doodh Kheyechhe Meow and the runaway success Cholo Potol Tuli), but also acted as 'Topshe' in the play Apsara Theatre-er Mamla based on Satyajit Ray's thriller of the same name, under the direction of his father, who himself essayed the role of Feluda.^[4] During his St. Xavier's days, he was roped in to play the lead in a documentary on HIV-Aids, Isolation, by teenage filmmaker Sangbit Samaddar, who was at that time, only a Class 12 student of South Point High School.^[5]

His acting debut on the small screen happened post his FTII stint, when he was given a small role in the telefilm BaghNokh by Kaushik Ganguly, which aired on ETV Bangla as part of a weekly series.^[2] However, his claim to fame was through the critically acclaimed Bengali megaserial Ganer Opare which also saw the debut of his sibling Arjun Chakrabarty as the male lead Gora.

Gaaner Oparey: road to limelight

Gaurav was launched in his first major project, along with his younger sibling Arjun Chakrabarty, in the Star Jalsha megaserial Gaaner Opare produced by Ideas Creations Pvt. Ltd, the production company helmed by the Tollywood hero Prosenjit Chatterjee. Gaaner Opaarey was conceived by the channel as a tribute to the poet laureate Rabindranath Tagore on his 150th birth anniversary, and would explore his applicability in the increasingly Westernized modern Bengali society.^[6] With a script penned initially by actor and director Rituparno Ghosh and later by Anuja Chattopadhyay (who had previously worked on other serials like Ekhane Aakash Neel), the serial is widely credited for having brought back the educated Tagore-loving, intellectual Bengali audience in front of the television. Even though it ran for only about ten months, the show catapulted the young cast, primarily Gaurav, Arjun and Mimi Chakrabarty (who played the female lead) to fame within that short span of time.^[7] Chakrabarty's character 'Prodipto Lahiri', in spite of not being the official male lead, found a cult following, largely due to its controlled and understated portrayal.

Gaurav made his silver screen debut with the film Rang Milanti, a romantic comedy directed by Kaushik Ganguly, that released in September 2011 to wide critical and commercial acclaim. He played the character 'Rik', a serious and docile software engineer in love with an ad-agency employee Kamalika (Ridhima Ghosh).^[8] He also featured in the ensemble cast for Kaushik's movie, Laptop (released on 13 April 2012), which was selected for screening at the Indian Panorama section of the 42nd International Film Festival of India at Goa (IFFI 2011: Nov. 23rd - Dec. 3rd).^[9] The film also had an international premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF 2011), where it competed for the Muhr AsiaAfrica Awards for feature films.^[10] Laptop found Gaurav in the garb of a computer science master's student Jion, who also doubled up as the personal tutor of Ridhima Ghosh's character Raya, an aspiring model. That apart, he plays a Muslim lad Anwar, in love with a singer Kuhu (Ridhima Ghosh again), in Abhijit Dasgupta's Aashbo Aar Ekdin, co-directed by Arindam Sil. The ensemble cast has other big names like Abir Chatterjee, Swastika Mukherjee, Roopa Ganguly, Alokananda Roy, and others. He also appears as Indrajit Pratap Roy in Haranath Chakraborty's Chhayamoy based on Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay's story of the same name, and as Prasit in Atanu Ghosh's upcoming directorial venture (his 4th overall on big screen) Rupkatha Noy.^[11]

Besides films, Gaurav has been keeping up with his theatre work and can be seen regularly as 'Topshe' in Apsara Theatre-er Mamla. He also starred in the Star Jalsha tele-serial Adwitiya which wrapped up recently (2 March 2012). There, he essayed the role of Robi Kiran Choudhury, the elder brother to protagonist Chandra Kiran Choudhury, played by Indrasish Roy. Robi Kiran, a far cry from the likes of Prodipto and Rik, was a power-hungry but educated village chief, whose life was governed by the schemes he designed to establish and maintain his political and social supremacy over his native village in the Sundarbans.^[12]

TV Serials

• Gaaner Oparey, aired in STAR Jalsha
• Adwitiya, aired in STAR Jalsha

Filmography

• 2011 Rang Milanti
• 2012 Laptop
• 2013 Chhayamoy
• 2013 Rupkatha Noy
• 2013 Ashbo Arek Din
• 2014 Highway (post-production)
• 2013 Apur Panchali (post-production)
• 2013 Aagun (filming)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Official Blog