08 June,2026 12:19 PM IST | Mumbai | Athulya Nambiar
Jisshu Sengupta (Pic via actor`s Instagram)
For actor Jisshu Sengupta, one of the most compelling aspects of the recently released ZEE5 series Brown was that it refused to fit neatly into a genre box. While the upcoming series is mounted as a crime thriller, Sengupta believes its greatest strength lies in its exploration of flawed, deeply human characters. The actor who always wanted to work with the Delhi Belly director Abhinay Deo signed the film without reading the script. He heard the story and details about his character in a brief meeting before signing the show.
In the show, Brown, Sengupta has limited screen time. However, despite being a star, the screentime is least of his concern and priorities. For Sengupta, screen time has never been the deciding factor; relevance to the story is.
"I believe that if my character is out of the story and the story is still moving without me, then there's no point in me doing that role," he says in a conversation with Mid-day. "But if the story is incomplete without my character, I would definitely love to be a part of it."
He added, "It can be two scenes in the entire series and those two scenes make the entire story. Then I would love to be a part of it."
One of the biggest draws of Brown for audiences is the return of Karisma Kapoor in a role unlike any she has attempted before. Sengupta, who worked with the actor for the first time on the series, describes the experience as both nostalgic and eye-opening.
"The first thing which came to my mind was the 90s - Govinda, David Dhawan and Karisma Kapoor," he recalls.
Growing up on the cinema of that era, Sengupta says Kapoor's films were a source of joy and comfort long before conversations around mental health and emotional well-being entered public discourse.
"In the early 90s, we never knew what feeling low was or what depression was. Those films really helped us. Those comedies and entertainers brought happiness."
Working alongside Kapoor in Brown, however, introduced him to an entirely different performer.
"This Karisma Kapoor we have not seen," he says. "Doing Brown with her was a revelation for me."
"According to me, it is her finest acted work," he says. "And she's very down-to-earth as a human being. She never makes you feel that she's a star."
If Kapoor is one of the show's biggest surprises, Sengupta insists there is another character that deserves equal credit: Kolkata. Born and raised in the city, the actor believes Brown presents a version of Kolkata that audiences have rarely seen on screen.
"If you take out Kolkata from Brown, the show doesn't exist," he says emphatically.
For decades, Hindi cinema has often reduced Kolkata to a handful of familiar visual markers- Durga Puja celebrations, the Howrah Bridge and other iconic landmarks. Brown, Sengupta says, consciously moves away from those images.
"The way Abhinay Deo and Amogh have shot Kolkata is very different. Personally, I have not seen Kolkata this way. We have seen the city in different lights before, but not specifically the way it has been shot in Brown."
Beyond discussing the series, Sengupta also reflected on the state of Bengali cinema and what separates it from larger film industries across the country.
According to him, the biggest difference is budget. "All the industries are the same. The way it works is the same. The only difference is the money part and the budget thing," he says.
The actor points out that Bengali filmmakers often complete films in less than three weeks, a feat that would be difficult to imagine in many larger industries. "We finish a film in 15 to 18 days with four or five songs in it," he says.
Yet despite operating with significantly smaller budgets, Bengali cinema continues to earn critical acclaim and recognition at prestigious platforms. "If you have heard of Srijit Mukherji's films, the average he shoots right now is 18 to 20 days. Kaushik Ganguly gets us National Awards making films in 14 or 15 days."
For Sengupta, the industry's limitations have not diminished its artistic ambitions.
"The business of films in my region is not as big as Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada or Malayalam cinema," he says. "As the business grows, the money will come in and things will become bigger."
He added, "One thing I'm so proud of is that every year, at least two or three National Awards come to Bengal. We also receive recognition at film festivals around the world. In spite of the budget constraints, we are still able to keep that artistic space alive."
