There’s no keeping Ritabhari Chakraborty down. Come hell or high water, the actress has bounced back every time, her resilience a lesson in the positivity of the spirit. With the seventh edition of her annual calendar out now, Ritabhari chatted with t2 on the making of the calendar and having the iconic Zeenat Aman beside her at the launch. Excerpts.
Let’s start with the theme. Why did you pick main character energy?
I think in the last six years, whenever I have done the calendar, a lot depends on how I am feeling. And in the last one year with my own glow up, and with the kind of work and the kind of things that I have been doing, like finally I am doing work that has been internationally recognised, my film (Papa Buka; Papua New Guinea’s official entry for the Best International Feature Film) went for the Oscars, I did my own show last year where I hosted people. So, this basically gives a couple of examples where I have actually felt the main character energy in a long time. I feel like I am standing in the foreground, and I don’t mind the spotlight. I am actually enjoying the spotlight.
For me, the main character energy is majorly like feeling the main person in your life. I went through this whole transformation, in terms of buying my own house, settling into my 30s. There were a lot of changes that I faced, and finally, I am feeling settled with the energy that I have, not apologetic about it, but rather owning it, that I am the main character of my life.
When we were planning the shoot, the whole brief to my team was that all the pictures had to give that vibe. If you look at it, a lot of them have a bit of a baddie vibe, as Gen Z calls it, but then again, not all of them. Some of them are very much me, like for the pink dress where I am holding the telephone, it’s like me smiling with it. I do not believe in fashion trends, I do not believe in following them. If I like something, I want to wear it. That could be from any era, any timeline.
You look gorgeous in the photographs!
Thank you! We really planned the production thoroughly. We have used a lot of mirrors. Everything was customised. The mirror is because, you know, you feel the most main character in the reflection. Own who you are, in whatever body, face and form you are in. Then there are quirky sunglasses and disco balls. I am very proud of the production we have pulled off this time.
I think my newer self is so much better; I will never go back to my old self. I think I got an upgrade! I don’t think I have lived a version of me as good as the one I am living right now.
The black dress is one of my favourites because it really shows how comfortable I am right now with myself and the confidence that I’m feeling from within. I didn’t want the make-up to overpower me. I wanted to be recognisable as the Ritabhari that I am today.
The telephone frame is so much fun…
That telephone is from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. I’ve been meaning to use it for a while. This look is also to break stereotypes. For example, if you’re a baddie, you cannot be a Barbie. If you’re a Barbie, like if you’re Taylor Swift, then you cannot be a baddie. You cannot have an opinion about politics. This stereotyping has been going on for ages. So, I definitely wanted to have a couple of looks which are also a little different from the baddie main character looks that I have done. There’s an almost Cleopatra-ish look, with a golden dress and a candle in my hand.
Zeenat Aman must have been a special presence at the launch…
She is one of my icons for sure. When I thought of main character energy, she was definitely one of the names that came to my mind. Even at this age, she is putting herself out there in a way that is almost in tandem with how our generation operates. I was like, if this is not main character energy, then what is? Timeless energy.
It was literally a dream or a desire. This is my seventh year of the calendar, and because I myself am in a look-I-am-back kind of a mode in my head, I was like, this will be a big bang.
I feel validated when I see an actor or an icon who is obviously a million more times successful than me, but who has survived and survived and how, it inspires me to think there’s hope for women like me who are so many different things.