I don’t want the baggage of lineage: Namashi Chakraborty

Along with being a star kid, comes expectations of the audiences and responsibility to carry the family name ahead. And Namashi Chakraborty, born to actors Mithun Chakraborty and Yogeeta Bali, agrees. But he doesn’t want the “pressure of legacy and lineage” to bog him down.

He tells us, “When I began shooting, I used to feel the pressure of living up to my family name. I was worried if I would be able to act and dance well. My dad has been a superstar in his time and he was par excellence in everything he did. But the best way to approach my career is to leave that baggage behind and find my own way.”

Chakraborty, a former film critic and improv artiste who is all set to make his big screen debut with Bad Boy, shares that acting has been his only goal in life and there had never been a plan B. “When I told dad that I want to act back in 2016, he said, ‘Woh toh mujhe maaloom hai. Tu poora din Govinda, Shah Rukh aur mere gaano pe naachta hai’.” But his dad made it clear that he wouldn’t be launching him and he would have to figure out his first film on his own, a conversation the 29-year-old vividly remembers. He adds, “Dad knew that if I get a readymade launch pad, I’ll become very lazy and not grow as a person and an actor grows through experiences.”

Quiz him about who have been his biggest influences apart from his father and Chakraborty says, “My childhood has been all about (actors) Govinda and Shah Rukh Khan. I’m a 90s kid, so Shah Rukh Khan ko pyaar nahi kiya toh kya hi kiya? I’ve seen every single film of these two actors, including the ones where they had cameos. When I started exploring world cinema, I developed a huge admiration for (actor) Peter O’Toole. These three actors are my Gods,” he ends.