54 fun facts about Prosenjit Chatterjee as he turns 54

On Prosenjit Chatterjee’s birthday, here’s looking at 54 lesser known facts about the actor. Happy birthday, Bumbada!

1. Prosenjit knows how to play the drums. When he was 12 years old, he was part of a boy band named Toofan Melody.

2. Director Mitali Ghoshal and Samrat had made a documentary, on the actor named For Cinema Only.

3. His favourite perfume is Polo.

4. Everyone in the film industry lovingly calls him Bumba.

5. His favourite drink is green tea or black coffee.

6. The actor is trained in horse riding.

Prosenjit loves reading hand-written letters. (prosenjit.in)

7. Makeup artiste Subhash Bera has been working with Prosenjit for the last 20 years.

8. Filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh did Prosenjit’s make up when the latter got married to Arpita Pal.

9. He had earlier married actress Debashree Roy and Aparna Guhathakurta. Till date, he maintains that Debashree is his favourite actress.

10. He had turned down films like Saajan and Maine Pyar Kiya.

11. Prosenjit first appeared in his father Biswajit Chatterjee’s production Chhotto Jiggasha when he was four years old.

12. Prosenjit is very fond of Thai cuisine.

13. Prosenjit is a big fan of Amitabh Bachchan, Soumitra Chatterjee and Robert De Niro.

14. In Piyush Bose’s film Dui Prithibi (1970), he played the younger version of Uttam Kumar.

15. In Bimal Roy’s Duti Pata (1983), he was introduced as the hero for the first time.

16. He has done a radio play, Chitcor, by Jagganath Basu.

17. He also did a play, Charmurtir Goyendagiri, directed by Shyamal Sen.

18. His film, Amar Sangi (1987) ran for 75 weeks and set records.

Prosenjit Chatterjee with Rituparna Sengupta. (HT Photo)

19. He has had successful pairings with actresses like Rituparna Sengupta, Rachana Banerjee and Satabdi Roy. He has shared screen space with Rituparna and Satabdi in more than 50 films. He has done 16 films with Indrani Haldar and 35 films with Rachana.

20. Prosenjit and Rituparna last shot for director Ratan Adhikari’s Jamaibabu Zindabad in 2001. It took them 15 years to share screen space again. In 2016, they paired up for Shiboprosad Mukhopadhyay and Nandita Roy’s film Praktan.

21. In 1992, Prosenjit directed his first film, Purushottam and it starred Debashree Roy.

22. He has produced television series such as Gaaner Opare, Adwitiya, Tritiya Purush and many others.

23. There was a time in the 90s when he signed 25 films in a year.

24. The actor has the record of having 22 releases in one year (2004).

25. Prosenjit made his Bollywood debut with Aandhiyan in 1990. Directed by David Dhawan, he played the role of Mumtaz’s son in the film.

26. For the first time Prosenjit has lent his voice to a Durga Puja album this year. He has sung Aaj Addar Tale Tale in the album Gaan Parar Pujo.

27. His favourite car is Bentley.

28. He considers Kamaleswar Mukherjee’s Khawto to be his boldest film till date.

29. To get into Lalon Fakir’s character in Gautam Ghose’s Moner Manush (2010), Prosenjit locked himself in a room, slept on the floor and had vegetarian food.

30. He considers his late mother, Ratna, to be his mentor and guide.

Prosenjit in Dosar. The film was directed by the late Rituparno Ghosh. (prosenjit.in)

31. He received the special jury National Award for his performance in Dosar.

32. He cannot get rid of his habit of exercising.

33. His favourite place in the world is Scotland.

34. Though he follows a strict diet, during the four days of Durga Puja, he makes sure he has bhog.

35. He plays Arun Kumar, a character modeled on Uttam Kumar, in the serial Mahanayak.

36. Prosenjit owns the cricket team, Purulia Panthers, in Bengal Celebrity League.

37. He is known as ‘Posenjit’ among the village crowd.

38. He went to the Cannes Film Festival for the screening of Rituparno Ghosh’s Chokher Bali.

39. His favourite colour is black and white.

40. He loves to watch movies during his leisure time.

41. His NGO, Manan, works for the development of education, encourages gender equality and women empowerment.

Prosenjit with his son Trishanjit . (HT Photo )

42. He helps his son Trishanjit shop and pack whenever he comes down to Kolkata.

43. His favourite film is The Godfather (1972).

44. He started his own production house and produced films such as Teen Yaari Katha and Bapi Bari Jaa and National award-winning film Shankhachil. He has also produced 22 television films in a year for Zee Bangla Cinema.

45. He quit smoking in 2009, but resumed it after he played a chain smoker in Khawto and Mahanayak.

46. He doesn’t know how to cook.

47. He is the only person who solely launched the first satellite channel in Kolkata, Alpha Bangla.

48. He is known for changing his looks in almost every film. He shaved one side of his head to play the character of Kushal Hazra in Srijit Mukherji’s Jaatiswar.

49. Every year, on his birthday, he spends time with the underprivileged children.

Prosenjit with Sourav Ganguly. (Prosenjit.in )

50. He prefers cricket over football and admires Sourav Ganguly.

51. He is the only Bengali actor, who has worked with the maximum number of Bollywood heroines both in Bengali and Hindi cinema such as Juhi Chawla, Rani Mukerji, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Bipasha Basu and Manisha Koirala to name a few.

52. He loves to wear jeans and T-shirt

53.His bodyguard’s name is Ram Singh, who accompanies him everywhere.

54. He still receives cards, flowers and gifts at home on his birthday. He prefers hand-written letters over emails.