Rituparna Sengupta is used to trying her hand at multiple roles, be it the newly-wed Romita who’s molested by a gang of men in Rituparno Ghosh’s Dahan or Paromita, the daughter-in-law in Aparna Sen’s Paromitar Ek Din. After wowing cinegoers in Bengali cinema with her sensitive performances, Rituparna has moved out from Tollywood and ventured into the big bad world of Hindi films. And though she feels the competition in the Hindi film industry is huge, she’s determined to find her feet in this world.

So what made Tollywood’s reigning heroine jump onto the Bollywood bandwagon? “It’s hard to ignore the national recognition one enjoys in Hindi films. As an artiste, I’m inspired to do new things and venturing into this field is a challenge for me,” says Rituparna, shooting for a Hindi film, Dil Ka Aarman, directed by Anup Das.

Sengupta’s days are crammed with back-to-back schedules. Though Bengali films still remain her priority she has cut down her work in Tollywood so that she can concentrate on Hindi films. “Bengali films are the platform I’ve showcased my talent on and they are my first love. But I want to carve out a niche in Mumbai,” she says.

Rituparna’s debut film in Hindi, Partho Ghosh’s Teesra Kaun, released in 1997. But she won critical acclaim with Chandan Arora’s Main Meri Patni Aur Woh (2005) opposite Rajpal Yadav. Then there was the offbeat Unns directed by Bhupendra Gupta. The film’s debacle hasn’t affected her and she’s moved on to sign a slew of Hindi films.

Most of these are offbeat Hindi films. A look at her to-do list reveals projects like Gauri — The Unborn, a thriller with Atul Kulkarni and Anupam Kher directed by R. Mohan. Then, there’s the hard-hitting Saab Chai Paani directed by Manish Sood to be released by end-2007.

But right now, she has started shooting the second schedule of the film Sirf with actors Kay Kay Menon and Manisha Koirala. Her other two films House Arrest opposite Shekhar Suman and Love Game with Randeep Hooda will begin shooting soon.

But has the leading Calcutta heroine been approached by any of the big directors in Bollywood? “Certainly,” she says, “Subhash Ghai called me for a role in his next film but the character was too young for me. He has, however, shown interest in working with me in the future. I am taking it slowly and giving myself time to adjust to this industry,” she adds.

However, she admits that initially she faced a language problem and had to work hard on her Hindi accent. “I am concentrating on my Hindi diction and have also started dubbing my own films in Hindi,” she says.

She’s also juggling shooting schedules and shuttling between Calcutta and Mumbai. The pace is picking up in Bollywood but she also has some commercial Bengali films up for release soon, including Kaka No 1, Footpath, Jhor Haoa and Anuranon.

Besides this, Rituparna recently appeared in a Hindi music video with Ashmit Patel called Mere Man Mein Dhadkan Mein with a voice-over by Amitabh Bachchan. “It’s the first-ever Rabindrasangeet album in Hindi, with lyrics translated by Javed Akhtar,” she explains.

Having worked in both Mumbai and Calcutta, Rituparna feels that work-wise Bollywood is more professional and organised. She says, “The energy in Mumbai is infectious.”

Looking back, Rituparna feels she’s matured a lot as an actress since she stepped into the film industry with Prabhat Ray’s Shwet Pathorer Thala in 1992. The film went on to bag the National Award for the Best Bengali Film and producers made a beeline to sign her on.

She hasn’t looked back since then with commercial hits like Sujan Sakhi, Nag Panchami, Moner Manush and Sansar Sangram. But it was her performance in Dahan directed by Rituparno Ghosh which won her the National Award for Best Actress along with co-actress Indrani Halder in 1998. Her other personal favourites include Paromitar Ek Din (2000) and Alo (2003) by Tarun Majumdar.

But life is not only about putting on greasepaint and facing the camera 24x7. She also has a dance troupe and runs a production company called Bhabna Aaj Kaal.

She has performed in three Tagore dance-dramas for ETV and her company has also produced a TV series called Bouma for DD Bangla. She is currently planning to produce a number of Bengali telefilms. “There are six of us who run the company and want to venture into Bengali television in a big way. Though I can’t be present on a day-to-day basis, I give them my opinions and ideas,” she says.

So will she finally settle in Mumbai? “I have no plans as of now but if things look positive I might consider staying back in Mumbai.”