She considers herself a Bengali and has made many films in Calcutta. But Wednesday marked a first for Vidya Balan in Calcutta — a visit to the t2 office. She was there to chit-chat with Team t2 about her December 2 film Kahaani 2, director Sujoy Ghosh for company. Over 40 minutes, Vidya — Bidya to her Calcutta fans — chatted, charmed and laughed out loud as she spoke on films and being a fangirl, social media and style, while digging into Jhaalmuri and sipping on her “special” tea.
Vidya walks in and spies the sumptuous spread — Calcutta street food kahaani with a twist, courtesy Afraa — laid out on the table: Wow! This is the answer to all our woes!
Priyanka Roy (Team t2): We’ve got Calcutta on a plate for you since you love Calcutta so much.
Vidya Balan: Ya, really… this is amazing! I love ghugni.
Sujoy Ghosh: Cha kothay?
Vidya: Khawabe. Aagey bosho, dada!
Sujoy: (Pointing to Vidya’s 2016 interviews with t2 laid out on the table) I haven’t seen this… or this… or this.
Vidya: I remember this chat (points to t2’s birthday chat with her in January this year). I fell ill after this…. (Sujoy whispers something to Vidya) Yes, my 50th birthday chat. I am hiding my age, according to him. By the way, I am so besharam I started eating without you all (all smiles after a mouthful of Jhaalmuri).
Priyanka: Vidya, every time you are in Calcutta, you do a lot of Calcutta things. So what have you been up to this time?
Vidya: Well, what are the things that we did today?
Sujoy: Aamra kheyechhi, aamra interviews diyechhi, aamra gari chorey chorey ghurey beriyechhi...
Priyanka: So what did you eat?
Sujoy: I ate kosha mangsho and ruti.
Vidya: Actually I had south Indian here. Rice and sambhar! (Laughs)
I think I’ve been away from home for far too long. Even though I’ve been in Bombay, I’ve been promoting (Kahaani 2), so I haven’t been eating home food. I craved sambhar today and then we had mishti at Gupta Brothers (Alipore).
Priyanka: Coming to Kahaani 2, the trailer is fabulous. Everyone we know wants to watch it!
Sujoy: You guys liked it? Will all of you watch it?
Team t2: Of course!
Sujoy: Aami khata rakhbo to take your attendance! (Laughs)
Priyanka: When Kahaani ended, we all felt that Bidya Bagchi had many more stories in her. So why Durga Rani Singh (Vidya in Kahaani 2) and not Bidya Bagchi again?
Vidya (to Sujoy): You go first… aami khachchhi.
Sujoy: We had contemplated taking Bidya Bagchi forward, but I wasn’t sure if I had a story significantly higher than the one we had in the first instalment. You already know Bidya Bagchi… she is an agent… she has certain skills. The only thing she could do right now was go on another assignment. Now that becomes a very standard film… there would have been nothing beyond.
Vidya: Though we did explore… we explored ways in which we could take Bidya Bagchi’s story forward, but we were both not agreeing on any story.
Sujoy: It did not feel like something unique. It would have been a great film… she was going to do an amazing amount of action... we were talking to some foreign action directors, but then again it was all set-pieces, it would be like another James Bond.
Vidya: You know, when he came to me with the story, the first thing he said was ‘I want to call it Kahaani 2’ and I was like ‘Why?!’ He said, ‘Just read it’. When I read it, I was like if there was ever a Kahaani 2, this had to be it! So we both finally agreed. Kahaani was so loved that it was a huge gamble. We couldn’t figure a way to take Bidya Bagchi’s story forward. But even if we were lending the name Kahaani 2 to another film, it had to be justified. And this, we felt, was justified.
Priyanka: Is that why it took four years for you to make Kahaani 2?
Vidya: Koro koro, jiggesh koro! Keno? Eto deri keno holo? (Everyone laughs)
Sujoy: Keno holo bol toh? Aami khoob aastey aastey likhi toh…. (Pauses)
I really don’t know why it took us so much time…
Vidya: Don’t say us, don’t say us! You write, I don’t!
Sujoy: No, Vidya also helps in writing. She donates words here and there.
Vidya: Haven’t you seen my diary in (the trailer of) Kahaani 2? He actually made me write it… he made me write every single page! And he used to say, ‘Bah… what handwriting!’ And I am like, ‘Thank you so much’… and then I would be scratching and rewriting.
Sujoy: So yeah… it took us a long time. I think a bit of time went in finding that one thing which will excite us. In the middle, I was a bit diverted… I was trying to make another film, which also didn’t happen. Bang after Kahaani she had four films to finish, I had one film to finish, so that took a bit of time.
Chandreyee Chatterjee (Team t2): There must have been a lot of pressure to write a story as compelling as Kahaani…
Sujoy: The idea was to find the story that would excite us, the story that would make us believe in enough to make the film…
Vidya: And a story that we wouldn’t end up comparing to Kahaani. (To Sujoy) I don’t know if you remember, but there was a conversation between us where I said let’s just not call it Kahaani 2, because we’ll face the pressure. He said, ‘Listen, I am making a completely different film. Kahaani is almost like a genre in itself, but we are telling another story, which is a great story. That’s all I believe in and I am not feeling any pressure’. The moment he said that I began to look at things differently. And when the trailer came out, people responded to it like it was a completely different film.
Sibendu Das (Team t2): I am from Chandernagore and you shot quite a bit of Kahaani 2 there…
Vidya: We love that place!
Sibendu: Calcutta had a very special place in Kahaani. How much do Kalimpong and Chandernagore contribute to the drama in Kahaani 2?
Sujoy: Well, they are both handpicked for a reason. When you write a film, when you look into the details of the characters, the rest naturally falls into place. For example, Vidya’s character (Durga) is from a lower middle-class family… she works in a very simple office where her monthly income is Rs 12,000-15,000. With that kind of salary, you can’t stay in Calcutta. So you have to stay on the outskirts and do daily passenger-y. So once we had decided that this character had to live outside Calcutta, it was just about finding the best-looking one. And we really liked Chandernagore… especially for jolbhora (sandesh)!
Chandreyee: What about Kalimpong?
Vidya: It is heaven on earth, yaar!
Arunima Pal (a third-year student of Asutosh College and a Vidya fan): I lived there for two years…
Vidya: How lucky you are! You know Hill Top? We shot right opposite Hill Top, there’s a house. Then we shot in a school, Scottish (Universities) Mission… the market place. We even went to the monastery, right at the top.
Priyanka: So how much do these places actually lend to the atmospherics of the film?
Vidya: I think the film dictates where you shoot, really. Kalimpong, which is not that commercial, has that pristine lonely quality, which you need because Durga Rani Singh is a loner. She is withdrawn… she lives in her own head, perhaps. She has nothing to do with this world, she is not interested in anyone. For someone like that, it’s a safe haven.
Chandreyee: If Kahaani 2 is not a sequel, then why come back to Bengal to tell this story?
Vidya: Because otherwise I wouldn’t do it! (Laughs)
Sujoy: My thing is that when I create a world, if I can put Calcutta in that world, then it is very easy for me. I am very comfortable here.
Vidya: When we were talking about Kahaani 2 and initially exploring whether we could do it elsewhere, I said for at least one day we have to go back to Calcutta! We cannot not come to Calcutta and luckily we ended up shooting much more here.
Priyanka: Vidya, you have been Bolly’s most wanted… and now you are on most-wanted posters, courtesy the Kahaani 2 promos! What was that like? Apparently your maid also thought the cops were after you?
Vidya: That was the funniest incident and I actually called up everyone on the team and said, ‘Listen our idea is a huge success’. She’s been with my family forever and to even think that I could be accused of murder and kidnapping! (Laughs) She said to me: ‘I know you have been falsely accused’ … I was like, ‘Excuse me?!’ Then she started laughing and said: ‘Nahin nahin main mazaak kar rahi hoon…’, but actually, she wasn’t!
Sujoy: I think it was something she was suspecting for a long time… and it finally came true… hotei pare!
Vidya: (Making a face) She saw you at home, na… so she realised, sangat ka asar…
Sujoy: No, no, but nowadays you can’t tell about a person. Maane o ki kore raattire, dupurbela aami jani na toh (Sujoy cracks up as Vidya gives him a hard stare and then bursts out laughing)
Vidya: Aami bhoot baniye ghure berai...
Sujoy: Ekdin raatre aamar barir shaamne ‘huuuu’ kore akta odbhut aawaj… (to Vidya) was that you?
Chandreyee: Somebody I was travelling with actually said, ‘Ki shundor dekhte ekta meye... she is most wanted?!’
Vidya: Yes, we have got diverse reactions. Some rickshawallah told someone and that person actually tweeted saying, ‘Dekho yahi hota hai kalyug mein… kitni masoom dikhti thi yeh.. aur dekho kya kar diya hai isne!’
CHOMP CHOMP: The Calcutta street food platter from Afraa was a hit with Vidya and Sujoy... Jhaalmuri with Cheene Badam and Narkol being the show-stealer, even as Sujoy polished off a cone of Fish Bethuarani with Dhonepata-Kanchalonka Bata.
Also on the munch menu were Chowrasia Paneer Aloo Kati Roll miniatures, Murgh Khurchan Kati Roll miniatures, Ghugni Tartlets, Nolen Gur Infused Makha Sandesh Souffle and Chocolate-coated Kamala Bhog. Yum!
Chandreyee: The t2 girl gang is very kicked about Arjun Rampal being a part of Kahaani 2. But do you think the hunk factor might take away from the real feel of the film?
Sujoy: No. In fact, we are very proud of the fact that Arjun joined us. That’s because when you put Arjun in that real environment, he is a completely different Arjun Rampal. The only resemblance to the earlier Rampal is that they are both good-looking.
Vidya: And how!
Sujoy: I mean, this is not the Arjun Rampal you have seen in Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat!
Vidya: He is going to kill you! I think it’s so interesting to have someone like Arjun play the cop… it’s unpredictable. He is glamorous and our film is very real. But he is doing different kinds of films and this is proof of the fact that he is really exploring at this point because he literally slipped into the space beautifully and people are reacting to the trailer so well. And it helps that he is so good-looking. He’s such a good-looking cop, ya… I so wanted to be caught! (Laughs)
Sulogna Ghosh (second-year student of St. Xavier’s College): What was it like working with Calcutta actors in Kahaani 2? You don’t have a Bob Biswas this time...
Vidya: Kharajda (Mukherjee) is there, who is undoubtedly one of the best actors I have met. I absolutely love him! He is just so cute... I almost wanted to pull his cheeks!
Sujoy: Ya, he is like Hardy of Laurel and Hardy!
Vidya: It was such a great cast. They have all created memorable characters. I worked with Tota (Roy Choudhury)... he is so shy! It’s quite refreshing, you know… you pay him a compliment, he doesn’t know where to look… he just sinks into himself!
Chandreyee: Vidya, you’ve always played very strong women characters. What do you find yourself gravitating more naturally to — a kick-and-punch heroine like Akira or a woman who takes on the system like in Pink?
Vidya: I haven’t seen Akira, so I can’t comment. A lot of times I get asked what empowerment means to me and I keep saying the awareness of the right to say ‘No’. I was thrilled to see Pink give voice to that thought because as girls, we find it very difficult to say ‘no’.
Sujoy: Not when you take a script to her!
Vidya: I am empowered, you see!
Arunima: Vidya, if you could become any other actress for a day, who would it be?
Vidya: Meryl Streep, undoubtedly. Maybe just steal her talent and come away! (Laughs) I think she’s extremely beautiful and what she does on screen makes her even more beautiful (smiles).
Chandreyee: You are still taking baby steps on social media. How’s it been so far and is Sujoy giving you lessons?
Vidya: Guess who opened my Twitter account seven years ago? (Looks at Sujoy) I never used it then and then many fake accounts cropped up. And so when I actually went on to Twitter, people thought even that was fake! (Laughs) So I used that time to get used to it before I got it verified.
Sujoy: She can take care of herself… she does it very well.
Priyanka: The last time we spoke, you said you loved using Instagram and Periscope…
Vidya: Periscope I haven’t been very active on because you need someone else to do it. But Insta, I have been very active to the point of almost feeling self-obsessed. But then, what the hell!
Sibendu: How do you handle trolling on social media?
Vidya: Thankfully, I haven’t faced it yet. Even if I have, I haven’t been aware of it (smiles). I am a convenient social media user. I tweet or put out a picture and don’t necessarily read all that follows it. As it is, I use my phone less….
Priyanka: You reply to texts four days later!
Vidya: Ya, ya! (Laughs) And I still haven’t replied to yours I know because I saw it just now and I was like, ‘I’m anyway going to meet her!’ (Smiles) You know why Sujoy is giving me this dirty look? Because he thinks he’s the only one whose texts I don’t reply to!
Priyanka: Vidya, your style sense was criticised for a long time, but now fashion pundits are much kinder to you. What’s changed?
Vidya: I don’t read any of these blogs! But I think I am wearing what I like to… more and more. I am becoming more and more stubborn about only wearing what I like. When you start feeling good, then it brings in praise.
Priyanka: Is there a scope for a ‘Kahaani 3’? Or is it going to take another four years?
Vidya: (Gasps) Cancel, cancel, cancel!
Sujoy: No, no… at the moment, we have a script, yes. Without a script, she (looks at Vidya) will never say ‘yes’.
Vidya: Don’t make it sound like a complaint. The moment you focus and you write faster then we will have a script in the next six months… I have said it purposely to get a reaction out of you!
Sujoy: No reaction!
Chandreyee: Finally Vidya, now that you have been making almost all your films in Calcutta, we are happy to have you call our city home… permanently!
Vidya: Thank you! I would at least like to have a house here. But I think my family will panic. They already don’t understand what this connection is!
Pictures: Rashbehari Das and B. Halder
I will watch Kahaani 2 because.... Tell t2@abp.in
