2023 has begun on a busy note for the 24-year-old Angana Roy, who made her debut as a child artiste in Tarun Majumder’s family drama, Alo, back in 2003. Following her impressive turn as Meghla in the grim psychological thriller, Roktokorobi (streaming on Zee5), Angana is playing Sanchari, an amateur blogger in Debaloy Bhattacharya’s web series Indubala Bhaater Hotel, which has recently released on Hoichoi.
“Sanchari is a 19-year-old girl from Krishnanagar who moves to Kolkata as a blogger, bringing a fair amount of baggage with her. She’s unlike any other character I’ve played before in how she combines her inherent bubbliness with a learned compassion. When she meets Indubala (played by Subhashree Ganguly), the latter is 75, having long set up her eatery in Kolkata since her move from across the border. Over time, Sanchari and Indubala develop a beautiful friendship. Theirs is a special bond unaffected by the age gap and the two grow to become each other’s confidantes,” said Angana.
Indubala Bhaater Hotel marks Subhashree’s web series debut in one of her most challenging roles till now. “Subhashree di is someone my generation has grown up watching. She’s completely overhauled herself for this role. In Indubala, Sanchari becomes an adopted granddaughter for the protagonist. It’s interesting how Subhashreedi kept up the essence of our fictional equation whenever she had her makeup and prosthetics on. And then, once we’d pack up for the day, she’d slip back into her real self with me,” said Angana.
Last year, Angana was part of an ensemble for the latest web adaptation of Srikanto (streaming on Hoichoi) besides starring in Anupam Roy’s peppy music video, Ga Chhunye Bolchhi, alongside Rwitobroto Mukherjee. In Roktokorobi, Angana’s Meghla stood out for her sensitivity and steeliness. “Meghla required a lot of preparation. She is defined by how she holds her own when her world falls apart with the deaths of her parents and her brother,” said Angana, adding that writer Sahana Dutta taught her how to “process trauma, especially in the crying scenes where Meghla’s ways of grieving her losses is different each time”.
Currently shooting for another Hoichoi web series Khela Ghor, Angana is about to begin work on Pariah, opposite Vikram Chatterjee. “The movie is centred around the racket of missing street dogs and my character Kamalini is a dog lover. It’s an apparently simple character whose layers unravel as the plot progresses. Collaborating with Tathagata Mukherjee (director) is a pleasure because he takes a lot of time and care to build his world. Pariah is no exception and I’m excited to see how the creative process unfolds,” said Angana.