Her gut feeling about her big Bolly release is telling her good things, but the Santragachhi girl who once modelled for fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee and has made Mumbai home for the past eight years, knows that the gut feeling can be proved wrong. There’s no taking away the confidence of Bidita Bag, who is paired opposite Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, “a different love story”, according to the model-turned-actress. t2 caught up with her over phone, amidst a whirlwind promotional schedule.

Finally, you have a breather!

Actually, an interview got cancelled… so got some free time. We have just come back to Bombay from Lucknow and I have just come back home to drop my luggage.

You have been on a hurricane tour…

Yeah… hurricane, tornado… whatever you would like to call it… it’s been like this for the past 20 days!

So, are you feeling like a star?

Yeah… and I can actually feel how difficult a star’s life actually is! I am going to such nice places, but not being able to soak in the beauty of the place...

But you are enjoying this experience…

Haan dekhi… star der life kirom hoi ektu dekhi! The most enjoyable part is talking about my work.

So, Babumoshai Bandookbaaz is your big-ticket Bolly release…

Yeah… tai toh dekhchhi. Ei cinema ta aami korar aageyi hit hoye gechhilo. There were lots of controversies even before I signed it. Everyone was talking about it. You don’t get to see that often. I got a feeling that once this film finishes, it will get a big release. I didn’t think too much before signing it.

Phulwa must have been challenging to play…

It was challenging because there is no similarity between us, barring the fact that we are both independent. She is strong, a little manipulative, bold, very passionate… ektu nyakami o aachhey… prochur bodmaashi o aachhey…she is quite a seductress… she is a cobbler and she runs a household too… she is a multitasker! Circumstances have toughened her. She lives on her own terms and she doesn’t compromise on her happiness. I am not a rebel like Phulwa… I am quite domesticated. I read the script meticulously and paid attention to what the director (Kushan Nandy) had to say. There is some improvisation too.

And, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the co-actor, is…

He is very helpful. He jokingly says that he had been a supporting actor for so long that he still likes supporting people! I like the fact that he hasn’t forgotten his roots and can joke about it even after becoming a star…very simple and intelligent. We have a lot of common friends. I have followed his career and he also knew about mine to some extent. He is aware that way. He observes a lot of idiosyncrasies which he then imbibes in his acting process. Once he imitated his roommate at an audition; the next day when the roommate himself went for the audition, he was asked to perform something else! His timing is spot on.

Your family didn’t want you to pursue modelling and showbiz…

Yeah… because ei business e onek rokom golpo choley, na?! They were a little apprehensive. They said I could study as much as I wanted to and work. Now, it’s all cool. My father was into theatre and he would teach kids acting… so, the problem wasn’t with acting or the intimate scenes. He had another theory… don’t make your passion your profession. And, education was compulsory.

You are an inhibition-less actor…

I have lots of inhibitions in my personal life, but none in front of the camera. I am still not comfortable in a short skirt, but you can put me in a bikini in a film. No problem! I am an onyo manush when I am in front of the camera… onyo and bonyo… (different and wild) both! (Laughs)

That’s a great asset for an actor…

I don’t know how I got it, but it helps me immensely as an actor. I am not saying I am a great actor, but the moment I slip into the costume of a character, I just transform. I am a director’s actor. For the (steamy scenes) in Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, there was no time to think so much. It was so hot and mathar gheeloo bashpo hoye udey jachhilo! We were shooting in 48 degrees. The more retakes the worse for everyone!

How much will life change after Babumoshai Bandookbaaz?

I am not thinking so much! I’ll go crazy if I think so much. Am I a kid that I’ll build my kingdom of dreams? I’ll do a good film if it comes my way. Ektu taka beshi chaibo! Earlier people would tell me they don’t have a budget and I would agree. I won’t do that any more.

You sound demotional…

How can I act if I rid myself of emotions? But I don’t want to dream improbable....

Babumoshai is releasing with eight “voluntary” cuts. You have been vocal about CBFC’s 48 cuts diktat…

I don’t know whether being so vocal is good… a lot of people have been telling me, ‘you are a newcomer and saying so much’.

Why are they calling you a newcomer?! [Bidita’s filmography includes Ichhe in Tolly and From Sydney With Love in Bolly.]

They don’t know… they are probably meeting me for the first time… somehow people only know of success stories….

Do you have a problem with this newcomer tag?

I don’t mind being treated like a fresh talent, but not as someone who doesn’t know anything.   

What’s next?

I have done T for Taj Mahal (by Kireet Khurana, co-starring Subrat Dutt), a biopic on activist Daya Bai, and a female gangster film. All are Hindi films. So, a film for kids, a biopic and a gangster film… what balance!

Saionee Chakraborty