Movie buffs were overjoyed to learn that Bob Biswas, the mild-mannered serial killer from Kahaani (2012), was getting his own film. However, they seemed disappointed to learn that it did not star the original actor, Saswata Chatterjee, but Bollywood’s Abhishek Bachchan. “I thought Bob had died in an accident,” Chatterjee shares when asked about the stand-alone spin-off.

Probe him if he was unhappy with the casting and he counters, “Why should I be disappointed? They are making it for the Hindi market; they will look for a bigger name.” He adds, “I made the film in 2012. Why will I be bothered about it being made in 2021? If I was upset, I would have come out and given so many statements.”

On the contrary, Chatterjee admits that he is proud of having created a character that has become so iconic that someone like Bachchan has stepped into his shoes. “I was proud of myself because I just did a role for 10 minutes. If a full-length feature film happens with someone like Abhishek, then I’m proud.”

He shares that he hasn’t watched the latest release and claims that neither (Abhishek) Bachchan nor filmmaker (Sujoy) Ghosh spoke to him about the movie. “They didn’t reach out,” he says, while adding, “When two different people play the same character, it should be played in two different ways. Take, for example, James Bond. Every actor has taken a different approach, and we should respect that. Bob, like Bond, has become a franchise. Audience should go to the movies with an open mind.”