Over the last few months, numerous debates have been stirred about how all the film industries are merging into one. But, Parambrata Chattopadhyay begs to differ. “We can’t have one big industry. If so, the whole distribution machinery has to be the same for all films,” reasons the actor, who has featured in films like Kahaani (2012) and Pari (2018) and the web show Aranyak, besides many other Hindi and Bengali projects.

He goes on to shed light on how the number of screens allotted to Hindi films versus those of other languages continues to be lopsided: “The kind of distribution and bandwidth Hindi or south Indian language films get, a Marathi, Gujarati or Punjabi film wouldn’t get even one-tenth of that. So unless there is a level playing field, it cannot be called one industry.”

The 42-year-old also feels one can’t compare box-office collections: “The revenue of, say, KGF - Chapter 2, can’t be compared to that of a small Bengali film. KGF releases on 5,000 screens, a Bengali film on 100.” What has blurred, though, according to Chattopadhyay, is geographical boundaries.

“‘Woh South ka actor hai, yeh Bengali actor hai’, that has gone. If someone watching Bulbbul (2020) or Aranyak likes my work, but is not familiar with me, they will think, ‘Iss actor ka aur kya hai, chalo dekhte hain’. And that is because of OTT,” he says.