Watching Rickshawala was like deja vu for me: Nandita Puri

Director Ram Kamal Mukherjee’s bilingual 50-minute film,

Rickshawala

, seems to wow everyone watching it. Set in Kolkata, the film pays a tribute to Om Puri and his award-winning role in the City of Joy. Recently, when Nandita Puri, wife of the late Om Puri, and his son,

Ishaan Puri

, got to watch the film, she said, “I loved Ram Kamal’s Rickshawala. I thought his film was very touching. He succeeded in capturing the true emotions of a rickshawala’s life in a very subtle manner.’
The film marks the debut of Bollywood actor Avinash Dwivedi in a Bengali film. Incidentally, Nandita couldn’t believe that being a Mumbai boy, Avinash managed to not only get the body language right, but also the dialects in both Bengali and Bhojpuri. Avinash stayed in Kolkata for a week, practiced pulling a rickshaw barefoot on the streets of Kolkata. “Ram Kamal could not have decided on a better actor than Avinash. You could see his preparation for the role. He was in character and I could feel it because I am familiar with Om Puri’s role as Hasari Pal in City of Joy. Watching Avinash in Rickshawala was like deja vu for me," added Nandita Puri.

After watching the film, Nandita got emotional, as she had first met Om Puri in Kolkata during the shoot of City of Joy. She was working for a news daily then. “The film took me back in 1991 on the sets of City of Joy in Calcutta (now Kolkata), where Om Puri essayed the role of Hasari Pal. He actually used to pull a rickshaw bare feet with two passengers on the streets of Calcutta every morning for a month in preparation, losing 15kg!,” she recollected.
Speaking about the film, she added, “Hand-pulled rickshaws are almost extinct today, except for a handful in Kolkata. It is wonderful that Ram Kamal has captured this for posterity in a very matured manner. What started with City of Joy will continue with Rickshawala,” she said.
On his part, Ram Kamal said, “I was very nervous before screening the film for Nandita and Ishaan Puri. I know them as outspoken individuals and they are very honest about their likes and dislikes. When Nanditaji liked the film, it was an like an award in itself.”