Wearing a red dhakai sari and gold jewellery by B.C. Sen, Arpita walked the ramp for the jewellery label’s 125th anniversary celebrations in ITC Sonar on Sunday. “I love traditional gold jewellery. I like dressing up on occasions and then I really deck up… golap baala, mop chain, sita haar. On a regular basis, I wear solitaires,” she said. B.C. Sen launched a new line of jewels on the occasion. “The collection has four segments — retro in gold, neoclassical with semi-precious stones and gold, polki and coloured stones, and pure diamonds,” said Subir Kumar Sen, director, B.C. Sen. The collection will be on display at Taj Bengal’s Mandarin room till July 7, 10am-8pm. Picture: Rashbehari Das

She is getting ready to walk the ramp — the platform from where her career took off many summers ago. Before ramp rehearsals at ITC Sonar, Arpita opens up to t2 about her decision to divide time between Calcutta and Mumbai, motherhood and movies...

Are you having a Sananda Tilottama deja vu right now?

Oh yes! My god! Walking and posing… I was horrible at both! (Laughs) I was the dumbest in the entire lot (Tilottama 1997). I was such a misfit. I did not expect to win, yaar. I answered in Bengali. It is difficult for me to walk with a straight face. I will either smile or make a sad face. My smile is my only asset. There is nothing else to flaunt! (Laughs)

But why have you disappeared from Calcutta?

It’s basically for my son (Trishanjit, 8). I have got him admitted at International School Aamby (Aamby Valley City, Pune) and I visit him every weekend. I pick him up and we stay in an Aamby chalet and on Sunday he goes back. That is how it has been for the past two months.

Isn’t the arrangement strenuous?

See, you have to plan your schedule according to your priorities. To me, my son’s upbringing is priority. The day he was born, I made it a point that he would have to go to a good boarding school. It is not the same thing as being at home, especially in Bengali households where you end up pampering your kids so much. That would have been bad for him.

There were some other major factors too.... I shot for Rituda (Rituparno Ghosh’s Satyanweshi), keeping this in mind. The day Rituda offered me the role of Aloka, I made it clear that I would have to fly to Bombay on Friday and be back on Monday.

How has your son taken to the shift?

I had prepared him mentally for this day. So he wasn’t upset but a little homesick. The feedback I have been getting from his boarding school is that they haven’t come across such a kid who hasn’t given them any trouble. He has handled it well, with maturity and strength. I used to spend hours with him before he left, so that he doesn’t keep anything bottled up. I told him that he could go abroad for further studies if he studies well; he has to study well. The rest is destiny.

And how are you handling it?

For a couple of weeks, I couldn’t get back to my house. I stayed with one of my sisters-in-law at her Hindusthan Park place. But I am happy that he has settled down. After a month when I dropped by, he said, “Mamma, don’t come next week onwards. I want to spend my weekend with friends.” But you know what, after work, I don’t feel any hurry to go back home. I don’t feel like living in Calcutta too. In fact, I feel I am closer to him when I am in Bombay. (Laughs) Now, we have a flat in Lokhandwala. We have just shipped a car there too.

Well, that’s bad news for Calcutta filmmakers who want to work with you…

(Laughs out loud) As long as I am working, I don’t mind staying here. Apart from work, there is nothing in my life. I don’t socialise or go to nightclubs. In fact, it’s good news for filmmakers. I am 100 per cent dedicated to my work. If you have to keep me in Calcutta, give me work!

And how is the dubbing for Satyanweshi going?

I tried but couldn’t deliver a single line properly. The moment a scene would start, I would go numb. Memories of the shoot would keep coming back. I was in Bombay when Rituda passed away and then at his memorial in Nazrul Mancha, I was busy coordinating. I left for Bombay the day after. Somehow, I couldn’t feel his passing away. Finally, when I landed up today, it hit me. Debuda, his chief assistant (Debabrata Dutta) told me to call it a day. I was dubbing like a robot. Today it came into my system and I absorbed it. I know I will go tomorrow and deliver, knowing that he is not there.

Is Aloka the most challenging role of your career?

Yes, it’s a very complex character. I am a surprise factor. A bit of insanity, a middle-class background... then royalty, a deprived life.

You are in very interesting costumes in the film…

That was entirely Rituda’s idea. Rituda reached Weavers (Studio) at 9am, even before it opened! The research, the detailing, the aesthetics…. There is a scene where I am in a widow’s disguise… in that scene, I felt most sexy! (Laughs) A white sari with a black border, my hair slightly damp from the rain… white is my weak point. That day, I was so relieved!

Any special memory from the sets of Satyanweshi?

As usual Rituda would scold.... When I started working again, I went to the Shree Venkatesh Films office, met Moni and Shrikant (Mahendra Soni and Shrikant Mohta) and told them I would love to work with them. It wasn’t like… I was Bumbada’s wife, why should I go? And I had gone to meet Rituda. I hadn’t taken two of his offers in the middle, in those six years when I took a break — Nandita Das’s role in Shubho Mahurat and Manisha Koirala’s role in Khela.

You don’t regret that now?

No, because I gave those up to raise my son. I was very clear about my decision. But I am so fortunate that he kept his promise, which is so rare in our industry. And had Satynaweshi not happened, that regret would have been there.... I cannot equate my relationship with Rituda purely on the basis of profession. Dada (husband Prosenjit) had once told me that if anything ever happened to him or if I was in trouble, I should go to Rituda. No matter in what situation he is in, he would try and help me. Now I realise where he was coming from… that belief...

How is Satyanweshi shaping up in his absence?

Debuda is there. Avik (Mukhopadhyay, cinematographer) is there and Arghyada (Arghyakamal Mitra, editor). They know so much about his style.