A common belief in the world of cinema is that while actors choose certain roles, at times, it is the role that may choose the actor. For Chandan Roy Sanyal, the latter appears to have been the way when it comes to his next theatrical release, the Bengali period drama, Binodiini—Ekti Natir Upakhyan. “Such roles come to you. I couldn’t have pulled this off five to six years ago. But, in the last two-and-a-half years, something has changed in my life,” says the actor, who plays spiritual guru Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa in Ram Kamal Mukherjee’s directorial venture. 

Ask Sanyal to share what he implies, and he reveals that he was drawn to spirituality only in the last two years. “I started reading books on the subject, and its various aspects. Amid this, I got this offer. It’s a divine call—much more than a career move or about a hit or flop.”