Bratya's bald act

Short crop, long mane, funky mohawk ' sporting a fab hairdo for a film is one thing, tonsuring one's head for a role quite another.
And if this hair-we-go cause is championed by the state's minister for higher education, it might come as a bit of a surprise. Word has it that actor-politician Bratya Basu is all set to take a 'bald' step for Aniket Chattopadhyay's next ' Mahapurush O Kapurush.
Written and scripted by Aniket himself, the movie stars Bratya in the lead role. Says Aniket, 'It's not every day that you come across an actor, who is ready to go the extra mile for a role. I'm touched that Bratya has agreed to go bald for my film. In fact, it was never an issue with him.
He loved the script and gave his go-ahead as soon as I narrated the story to him.' The director, who has watched both Muktodhara and Hemlock Society where Bratya plays small but important roles, is thoroughly impressed. 'Bratya has several other commitments. While he has been balancing work and films, my project requires him to shoot continuously for 24 days. Wearing a skull cap was never an option and I'm happy that Bratya has agreed to shave off his head for the role of a sanyasi. We'll also be travelling to the Himalayas for the shoot,' adds the director.
Bratya, on his part, is unperturbed by his decision to go bald. 'As a minister, I have certain responsibilities. While I can't be doing bed scenes, I've no issues when it comes to tonsuring my head,' he says. The act will be one-ofits-kind in Tollywood. Talking about it, he adds, 'For many, Tollywood stands for glamour. But what matters to me most is acting and I don't make compromises here. If required, I'll go bald. Maybe, I'll wear a cap for a while till the hair grows back.' And what about doing a perfect balancing act? After joining the cabinet, Bratya did bit roles that didn't require more than seven days of shoot. 'I'm part of Nitish Roy's Mahakash Kando that needs me to shoot for 12 days. For Aniket's film, the schedule will be longer, but then, I'll be shooting in the evenings,' he adds.
Mahapurush O Kapurush also stars Dipankar De, Tanima Sen, Ritwick Chakraborty, Locket Chatterjee, Lama, Bhola Tamang and Sujoy Prosad Chatterjee