Keeping up with Kaushik Sankar Das

Kaushik Sankar Das, a renowned television director, announced his directorial debut in films with Punch, with Niloy Alamgir and Meghla Mukta in the lead roles. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was postponed. In the meantime, the director has ventured into acting. In a candid chat with The Daily Star, Kaushik talks about his upcoming projects and his plans for Durga Puja.  

"Although the pandemic has hampered everything, we haven't lost the enthusiam," he asserts. "The whole team of Punch are in touch, and working on  pre-production. Niloy, once again, has started working out for his part." He also said that unless the flights to India and Thailand reopen, they cannot start shooting, as they also have a team there. The music for the film is expected to be recorded by this month.

The director recently made his acting debut with Ghola, a web series directed by Tanim Parvez. The six-episode series is for the OTT platform Binge, and also features Nadia Ahmed and Yash Rohan. Das will play Yash's father in this project. "It was totally unexpected!" he shares, "I like Parvez and appreciate his work. I just couldn't say no when he approached me for the role. I am glad to have worked with Nadia and Yash. Nadia is very helpful as a co-artiste"

Kaushik also made a guest appearance in the tele-fiction, Cheat Chat, directed by Khairul Papon, where his co-actors are Tanjin Tisha and Farhan Ahmed Jovan.

"I have a handful of directorial projects for television," he adds. "I have two scripts by Reazul Alam Shaon, Subject T and Alo Adharer Khela, and another story by Apurno Rubel, Palta Ulta, which will feature Nobel. There are two more stories, including Shohoj Premer Golpo, written by Jinat Hossain Juthi, which will feature Niloy and Tasnuva Tisha, and Bachelor Bariwala, written by Humayun Kaderi. These are all stories of different genres, like thriller, paranormal, family drama and romance." He will also start working on a web series for Binge soon.

Tomay Gaan Shonabo, the live musical programme hosted by Kaushik has been on air for the last eight years on Maasranga Television. The show was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it has resumed shoots. "I have been doing the show since the beginning and I feel a special connection to it," he explains. " I am happy that we are back to work. We came back with a tribute to Alauddin Ali.  Samina Chowdhury was our guest in the episode."

Kaushik has some familial traditions for Durga Puja. "We have a family reunion at Raozan, Chittagong. This has been a tradition in our family for the last 97 years. Our family members celebrate together, and invite people from our village to our house," he says. "However, I am not sure if this year we will have the permission from the legal authorities for the grand dawat, but we plan to celebrate with all of our family members. This is the most delightful and enjoyable time of the year for us."