Taking challenges is actor Gargee Roychowdhury’s way of sailing through life. With each new challenge thrown her way, she reinvents many sides to her. After winning praise for her performances in films like Mahananda and Sesh Pata, Gargee Roychowdhury is set to make the audience go ROFL with a comedy film this time. Saptaswa Basu’s film Balaram Kando, set to release in the theatres on March 21, will see her alongside actor Rajatava Dutta. A t2 chat...
How much do you enjoy the genre of comedy as an actor?
Comedy is all about the pause, and that’s exactly what I like about this genre. The actor needn’t laugh to make the audience laugh. The delivery of lines in a serious manner should make the audience laugh out loud. That’s the trick in this genre. Sabitri Chatterjee, Tulsi Chakraborty, Molina Devi, Rabi Ghosh… none of them had to tickle us to make us laugh yet we laughed hard every time they appeared on screen. This is what I love about this genre. The dialogue delivery, the pause... it will force the audience to laugh.
Gargee Roychowdhury at Nainital, during the shoot of the film
Tell us a bit about your character in the film.
Tarangini Mukherjee is a marriage consultant but 12 years ago she got divorced. She is a single mother and never interferes in her daughter’s life. She gets to know that her daughter is all set to elope for a destination wedding. She calls her ex-husband, with whom she hasn’t spoken for 12 years. Tarangini is such a smart and practical lady. She feels that a couple can get separated but the parents can never go through a divorce.
This was the message that I liked and this message made me want to do the film because no matter what kind of a film I am doing, there should be a punch line. And the fun is in how we can speak about a difficult subject in a very easy manner. Tarangini is such a character and talks in such a way that people are bound to listen to her. Her husband creates a mess in every situation and she manages those situations. She is strict but very flexible. She is very sensitive and sensual.
How much fun did you have in the outdoor schedule of the shoot?
This was the first time I went to Nainital and it is such a serene place. I wish to go there again. I love the hills. And here there’s a similarity with Tarangini, she also loves the hills. We had great fun. At times it was sunny, and at times it rained... but we still got the shots done. It was a challenge. The script was good, so we had fun acting it out.
Rajatava Dutta, my co-actor, is really good and he is very used to this genre. So, I had to come up with ways to deviate from the usual. The directorial team was nice. I got a room with a view of the hills. I am an early riser, but I used to wake up very early then just to sit on the huge balcony and see the hills. It felt like I was sitting on the lap of the hill. When there’s a shoot outside, it is always double the fun. It feels like a happy pill for the soul. It helps me to do the work better.
The trailer shows how the generation before the millennials and Gen-Z looked at marriage as completely different. Can you relate with the millennials and Gen-Z in this matter?
If you cannot progress from within with time, then you will fall behind but that doesn’t mean that you are not respecting the institution. Marriage is an institution and I love to respect that institution. It is about patience and consistency. For me, I feel like learning the good things from the next generation— their energy, what they are thinking... but I will never be hooked to my phone for 18 hours a day, I don’t like that. I will never be in a live-in relationship. But I love learning so many other things from them. It is not about the generation gap but it is about what I am comfortable in.
Is Tarangini a progressive woman like Gargee?
Yes, of course. She believes in partial interference. She believes in giving space. For her, it is about keeping an eye on your daughter, not directing her to do something at every step. If your daughter is doing something wrong only then interfere and tell her. But let her live and make her own choices. Progressive in that way. Progressive to me is not partying till morning or indulging in addictions. This is not progress for me. For me, being progressive is giving space to oneself and others. Tarangini also believes in that. Live and let live. Here also there’s a similarity between me and her.
Gargee and Rajatava Dutta
After being a part of serious films like Mahananda and Sesh Pata, this is a light-hearted fun film. How do you draw the graph as an actor?
For me, even in my personal life, I get very bored while doing something for a long time. For me, breaking my image is very important. It is important to know oneself. Staying old school at heart is fine, but breaking oneself and seeing oneself by placing the person ahead in time is what helps us progress. I have always been like this. I have always waited for such characters that will allow me to break my previous image, be it Khaad, Lorai, Mahananda or Haami.
Keeping myself happy with the work I do is important to me. I should be able to see and say, ‘Wow this is looking nice on screen’. It is important to love yourself. Which is why I search for different roles.
Have you always kept a very open mind about working with the new generation?
Absolutely! In all these years I have done work with well-known production houses, and most importantly, with important directors. In that way, Saptaswa (Basu) is new to me compared to the ones I have worked with so far. I liked Saptaswa when I met him. He is tech-savvy and very prompt. He follows Hrishikesh Mukherjee and many such great directors. Whenever I tell him, Saptaswa I am waiting to see what you will do, he suddenly gets very serious and says, ‘Yes, I am doing something.’ I really love that approach. If the captain is good, the ship will sail well. Many times, his team used to ask me to sit on his chair. But I used to always say no. The captain should be treated as a captain. Post-shoot, we used to give adda sitting together but again in the morning, we would get to work. This should be the approach.
You have become Insta savvy and you are exploring different forms of art on it. What is motivating you?
Life is a journey. I just want to embrace all the challenges. For that, I have to break and reinvent myself as long as I live. I want to live like it is worth living. I observe and learn a lot from the younger ones in the industry. I have to cope with the changes of time, otherwise I will fall behind. I always want to stand first in impact and influence.