She is not someone to say sorry for what she thinks is right and that’s something about Bibi/Jaya in Pratim D. Gupta’s Shaheb Bibi Golaam that struck a chord with Swastika Mukherjee. t2 chatted with the feisty actress in a Taj Bengal suite about love, life and being Bibi in the August 26 release...

What is Bibi doing in Shaheb Bibi Golaam that the censor board wanted her portions chopped?
When a woman does anything which society considers immoral, people have a problem. They cannot deal with a woman who is not sorry or guilty of whatever she does which is not right according to society. Everything that happens in the film is inspired from a real incident. So it’s happening in our city, in our lives, but we do not want to face it. 
The problem is that Bibi in Shaheb Bibi Golaam (produced by Friends Communication) doesn’t conform to social norms. She wants to break out of the mediocrity and middle-class morality. She doesn’t allow her husband or anybody to call the shots. Bibi doesn’t want to be a docile housewife anymore, neither does she want to come back home after doing what she does! Once she has moved out, she has moved out. And even if she comes back, it will be on her terms. 

So Bibi is a sexually liberated woman...
She finds ways to achieve that moment, I think. To feel emancipated, to feel liberated. I wouldn’t say only sexually liberated, that will narrow down the whole thing. But of course for Jaya, it’s very important to achieve sexual freedom as she is constantly nagged to produce an heir while the husband is disinterested in bed.... If we see a woman in a sari, shakha pola and a ‘bhodro’ blouse, we think she is primitive. We have this mindset that a woman who wears jeans and top, speaks in English and doesn’t wear sindoor is a modern woman. A traditionally dressed up woman can be just the opposite in her head and mind.

The trailer shows Jaya doing a lot of kinky stuff with various men...
I think she takes care of her fantasies but that is only a trigger. That is why we don’t want to project it as a bold film with bold scenes. That is not what Shaheb Bibi Golaam is about. It’s just a part of the whole film which leads to a bigger story, bigger questions, bigger answers. 

But from the trailer we assume that Jaya is very bold and is trying to discover herself through her various sexual encounters...
Yes, I think so. Jaya is a middle-class housewife who never knew what she is capable of doing in bed, or how easily she can captivate the other sex. She wonders why her husband never saw anything worth appreciating in her. And when she lets herself loose, she feels powerful. I think that leads her to do a lot of other things and achieve a lot of things which she couldn’t have ever thought of. So her sexual encounters let her become the woman she’s always wanted to be. Jaya realises that she can rule her body and rule men. While we have a Fifty Shades of Grey where the man is in command, when will we have a Fifty Shades of Grey where the woman is in command? 

Are there traces of Jaya in you?
(Long pause) I could relate to her in one way... Jaya doesn’t go on a guilt trip, she is not sorry for what she does. In Aami Aar Amaar Girlfriends also, I had told the director (Mainak Bhaumik) that my character wants to become a mother, which is her only priority, and she will do whatever it takes to become a mother, but at the end of the film I won’t cry and go tell my husband that I am sorry. I have a severe problem of saying sorry just for the heck of it. 

You have never felt guilty over anything you did?
Never. Maybe for some stupid fight or something I thought that I had overreacted about. You do what you want to do with your life and your body and then you have to get back to that social moral space and you conveniently say sorry and then you live the rest of your life with that baggage. No, I am totally against such hypocrisy. Because no matter how sorry you are, people will prick you forever for that one incident. Maybe there were reasons behind that slip but you will never be forgiven. So why ask for forgiveness?

You had said that as Jaya you did things you’ve never done before.
Yes, the kind of scenes we have shot... I am happy those scenes have been retained because it’s very irritating when you shed everything, your deepest inhibition or the slightest inhibition left in your body, even if you are doing it in front of a handful of people, and it just gets wasted. Then I feel that arrey, why did I open myself so much in front of half-a-dozen people? I have done it to prove something through the film. I am happy that whatever the Central Board of Film Certification proposed to throw away has been retained after a fight. 
I have no qualms with going bold as long as it is done aesthetically. Jaya realises there is so much joy that she can derive from her body and that is what makes her so interesting. Having said that, it wasn’t easy to get the body language right. I think that is what made it very difficult to be Jaya or Bibi of Shaheb Bibi Golaam. And then there are various dance forms that I am not acquainted with at all, like belly dance, lap dance. I trained for two weeks with Sapphire. While shooting the lap dance, I felt like this was the most obnoxious thing I have done in my life! (Laughs) I was like, my god this is not me, am I capable of this kind of seduction?!

So like Jaya, the actress in you also felt liberated? 
Yes... I was like okay, so I can do these too! I was telling Suman (Mukhopadhyay), you don’t know what I am capable of now! (Laughs) I have learnt a lot of things about so many fetishes men have and there are so many ways women can deal with it. My will to flirt with danger has increased manifold. 

How do you make characters like Jaya and Anguri (Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!) so flesh and blood?
I think I am born with that power! (Giggles) I think I am a rebel who tells society that I care a damn. I never do any homework. I know no amount of preparation works when I stand in front of the camera, I just do the opposite of whatever I prepare when the director says ‘action’. 

Why do you do so few films?
(Long pause) Firstly, I get few offers. I don’t know why. Maybe I don’t belong to any group, association, people or authority in the industry. Besides, I don’t want to repeat myself. Producers and directors will have to offer me new things, otherwise I am not interested. And ours is a profession which has its highs and lows. Monetary pressure is there but Baba (Santu Mukherjee) always tells me not to succumb to it. Also, it’s good that I do fewer films because I think people wait for my films. And since I don’t have the pressure to shoot every day, I can spend time in Bombay.

What do you do in Bombay? Do you meet producers, directors? 
Yes. I really want to work in Bombay. I want a lot more people to see my work. Whether Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! has worked at the box office or not, everybody in Bombay has watched the film. And everybody remembers me from the film. So if I don’t go and tap the possibilities now, there will be no better time. I meet directors, casting directors; I go to production houses. I also give a lot of auditions. It’s a great help that Suman is there because he shoots those tapes. So he adds to what I should do and shouldn’t. I worked in the Hindi play A Doll’s House which will air as part of Zee Theatres soon. 

Are you in a happy zone personally?
I am happy. I think Suman is a great person to be with. We depend on each other a lot. He has become very close to my father and Mani. Now I am at peace. I don’t think about whether this will last or not. There are rough patches in every relationship but we are fine. 

How do you look back at the 13 years you’ve spent in Tollywood? 
There are no regrets. I do remember the struggle, refusals, the back-stabbings. I was not part of so many films that I knew I was a part of! But it happens everywhere. I think I have made a place for myself. And I am glad that I don’t have to thank anybody for where I am today.

SNAPCHAT

A Tolly actress/actor whose recent film you loved:
I think I am really liking this new makeover of Jeet. His style statement is very strong.
Among the newcomers in Tolly, who can be the next Swastika?
No one! They can become whoever but not me (laughs).
One thing you will do in your next film which can up the bold-o-meter: 
Not expose at all! Because this idea about bold and sexy with skin show and wearing a backless choli makes me want to throw up!
What you miss about Calcutta in Bombay...
I miss Anima (her house staff). But I like being in Bombay because I can roam around without being noticed. I can travel in an auto, which is a lot of fun!
You are reading...
The Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh.
You are listening on loop...
Songs by Simon & Garfunkel.
TV shows you are binge-watching...
MasterChef Australia, Grimm, How I Met Your Mother.
One fashion trend you are crushing on...
Anything and everything to do with linen.
One fashion trend that must go...
The backless choli with latkan.
A new dance move that (daughter) Mani has taught you...
The Prem Ratan Dhan Payo steps!

Kushali Nag 
Picture: Pabitra Das
Wardrobe: Sayantan Sarkar 
Make-up: Sayanta Dhali

Cover picture: Somnath Roy; 
make-up: Nabin Das; 
styling: Ajopa Mukherjee; 
sari: Mulberrys; 
lingerie: Suman Nathwani

Do you agree with Swastika that it is
important for a woman to not feel guilty
for doing what she wants to do? Tell t2@abp.in