Rituparno Ghosh (Aranya Sen)

You are turning actor with Kaushik Ganguly’s film on homosexuality, Chhaya Chhobi...

Yes, Kaushik’s film is about two people belonging to non-mainstream sexuality — a gay filmmaker and the subject of his film. This filmmaker, which I am going to play, is making a documentary on a veteran actor who would play female roles on stage. The film is about this dialectics. It will try to explore whether in today’s liberated world, a homosexual is empowered or vulnerable as in earlier times. We are so taken in by the concept of the masculine and the feminine that we don’t even think of other possibilities. If a boy behaves like a girl he is called meyeli (girlish), if a girl behaves like a boy she is called a boy. This film addresses the existence of the third gender. So, the film will show the inherent uniqueness and solitude in singularity.

Is solitude an inevitable part of someone belonging to non-mainstream sexuality?

Since a regular romantic relationship is not possible in marginal sexuality, there’s some amount of solitude involved. But the film doesn’t show how wretched one’s life is because of that. Rather, it shows how one can triumph over one’s trials and tribulations. The stage actor has had to fight not only his sexuality but also extreme poverty, while for the filmmaker the struggle is around the sexual politics. In a way, he has shades of an activist.

What more can you tell us about your character?

The character I play is gay and he has a bisexual partner played by Indraneil (Sengupta). Churni (Ganguly) is his wife. But the film is not about the love life of homosexuals.... There’s a bond between my character and the stage actor he is making the documentary on. There’s a film within the film. While making the documentary, the filmmaker starts playing out the actor’s life in his imagination. And the members of his unit start assuming corresponding roles in his imagination.

How much of your character will be you?

No, there’s no similarity between me and my character in the film in any manner. Kaushik was very clear from the outset that he didn’t want his protagonist to be like me. So I am going through a whole lot of things to get under the skin of this filmmaker. I have lost a lot of weight. I am going to the gym, I am learning to smoke — though I am not enjoying it at all. I am doing skincare (laughs)... and I am chopping vegetables, mopping floors. Kaushik will make me do all this in the film. Oh, I will also learn dancing!

What prompted the filmmaker to become an actor?

It’s not that I was very keen on acting. Shekhar (Kapur) had offered me a role a long time ago but I had turned it down. Some people believe that I have the ability to do very modern acting. Besides, I won’t be offered regular characters. The roles that will come to me will be like this one.... I was drawn to the subject (of Chhaya Chhobi). When Kaushik told me the story, I realised the film won’t work if one doesn’t believe in and love the subject. There can’t be any spoofing.... Kaushik is a very good actor himself. He acts out the parts when he reads the script.

People may think there’s nothing surprising that I am playing a gay filmmaker, but the thing is no one would have wanted to do the film, at least not with the care and effort I am putting in. This is the kind of hard work that I would want my actors to put in for my films. So, after the film is made, I will get to know whether this kind of a process works or not, or whether you can bypass all this with sheer technical knowhow.

What bearing does the court ruling decriminalising gay sex have on you?

The court ruling at this juncture is just a coincidence (the film hits the floor in August). As the first one in liberated India, our film will be historical. I think the verdict will help our work too.... Though our Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, we still are inhibited. For instance, when we were casting for the film, no one in Bombay or Calcutta agreed to play the bisexual character. But all of them went gaga over Sean Penn’s performance (as a gay activist) in Milk! I had asked an actor, who had refused the role, whether he had any problems playing a murderer or a rapist. He said no, because people wouldn’t think he is either of the two. But he had a problem playing a bisexual as he felt he would be marked as a potential bisexual in real life! He is afraid of a social scandal but he doesn’t have any ethical issues. Such prejudices shouldn’t be there when you are acting.

Do you feel more gays will come out of the closet now?

That is entirely an individual’s prerogative. It’s a private affair between two consenting adults. Do we wear our heterosexuality on our sleeve? We don’t. So why should we have to in this case? I will be saddened if it goes to the extent of exhibitionism.

Why haven’t you made a film on gays?

See it isn’t difficult for me to write a gay role and do it. But I didn’t from the fear of essentialism — that I know about this subject, so it’s no big deal for me to make a film on it…. Here it is different because someone else has offered me such a role and there’s a lot of dignity in it. Kaushik is sharing the responsibility for my self-expression.

Will Rituparno the filmmaker influence the making of the film?

No, I don’t think so. I am a very obedient actor. I listen to what my director says. I have already mugged up the whole script, including the lines of the other characters!

Chapal Bhaduri: The inspiration

Kaushik Ganguly on casting Rituparno as a gay filmmaker:

It happened by chance. I narrated the story to Rituda and after hearing it, he asked me if I had thought of anyone in the filmmaker’s role. I said no, as I really hadn’t. But as a shot in the dark, I asked him if he would like to play it. He thought for some time and then said ‘yes’.

I was worried about who would play the role and I can’t think of anyone better than him. No one would have put in the effort Rituda is putting in. He is working so hard — he has pushed back his own films and is practically doing this film for peanuts.

The only resemblance between Rituda and the character he plays is that both are filmmakers. There is no other similarity, physical or behavioural. I didn’t write this character with Rituda in mind. My inspiration was the veteran actor Chapal Bhaduri, who once ruled the jatra stage. He played female parts and was known as Chapal Rani. But when women entered jatra, Chapal Bhaduri was relegated to the background.