Picture by Pabitra Das; wardrobe: Swapan & Seema; make-up: Nabin; styling: Sandy

On 2008-09 being her best phase so far...

I had five releases in 2008! Premer Kahini, Love, Bor Ashbe Ekhuni, Chirosathi and Mon Maane Na. Mon Maane Na is a superhit, Chirosathi and Premer Kahini are hits. I think Love and Bor Ashbe Ekhuni did average business. Yes, it has been a very good year. Touchwood! I am very happy. I think God has been really kind.

On her work agenda...

I am very clear about the fact that I won’t do more than five films a year. I rejected a lot of films last year though it’s very difficult to say what works and what doesn’t work at the box office.

On how she picks her films...

When a director approaches me with a script, I check everything — the story, my character, the songs, the production house.... I try to find out if the script has box-office potential and think from the audience’s point of view. Besides, there’s something called intuition too. I say ‘yes’ only when everything falls into place.

On how she define success...

I want to be remembered for the number of hits I have delivered, not the number of films I have done. That’s why I am so selective.

On why Dev-Koel is a hit pair...

I think there’s a magic factor between me and Dev, and also between me and Hiran, which the audience has liked. A pair works only when the audience identifies with it.

On why the Koel-Jisshu combo didn’t click...

There’s something called luck. Jisshu was fabulous in Love and excellent in Bor Ashbe Ekhuni. Though the films were not box-office hits, many people appreciated them.

On the offers she is now getting...

I am doing Arindam Nandy’s (the maker of Via Darjeeling) Grahan. It’s a complex character I am doing for the first time. There’s Sandip Ray’s Hitlist, which I am really looking forward to. I play a naive, introvert girl alongside Bumbada (Prosenjit), Jisshu Sengupta and Tota Roy Chowdhury. Then there’s a film each with Sujit Guha and Haranath Chakraborty.

The role I have in Kaushik Ganguly’s Jackpot, which releases tomorrow, is something I have never done before.

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