Happy birthday in advance! Do you mind telling us how old you will be on Sunday (December 4)? And any birthday plans?

Thank you! Let my age remain a mystery. I think how I have maintained myself is more important than what my age is (laughs).... I don’t have any grand birthday plans. This year my son Prem is back from Darjeeling for good. I got him admitted in an army school here. I come from a very conservative family where birthdays of girls were not celebrated. For the past couple of years, I have been celebrating the day after my birthday. This year I will take Prem to my mother’s place and have lunch together.

Nitish Roy’s Gosain Baganer Bhoot is releasing next Friday. You had worked with him before...

Yes. A long time ago I had done the ETV Bangla mega serial Maa Manasha. I am surprised he remembered me and cast me in Gosain Baganer Bhoot. Interestingly, I am the only female character in the film that stars Victor Banerjee, Saswata Chatterjee, Kharaj Mukherjee, Tinnu Anand and Ashish Vidyarthi.

What’s your role in the film?

I play Burun-er Ma, a middle-class housewife. Saswata Chatterjee plays my husband. Burun is poor in studies and one day his mother throws him out of the house in a fit of rage. She immediately regrets what she has done and goes out searching for her only son. It’s an adventure film based on Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay’s story.... Burun lands up in Gosain Bagan and meets a ghost!

Are you going to take up Subrata Sen’s offer to play a brothel madam in Koyekti Meyer Galpo?

Yes, I have had initial talks with him. It should be interesting. I play a prostitute in Goraye Gondogol too. I think such roles are interesting because you need a different body language for them and they are tough, which excites me as an actress. For instance, I really enjoyed working in Debabrata Roy’s From Headquarters, where I play a TV actress who can go to any extent to get a role in films.

You seem to be in demand for roles that are different...

Yes, and I consider myself lucky! I think I am a very hassle-free actress. I don’t have too many dos and don’ts on my list. I am adjustable and disciplined. I don’t have to make an extra effort to be myself. I reach the set on time. I don’t trouble my producers for dates or anything else. I don’t have too many tantrums, so directors feel comfortable.

I have been working in Kaustuv’s (Ray, producer) productions since his first film Laal Ranger Duniya. Aniketda (Chattopadhyay) has cast me in three back-to-back films (Chha-E-Chhuti, Bye Bye Bangkok and the yet-to-release Goraye Gondogol). Shree Venkatesh Films repeats me in their films too. I just wrapped up Le Halwa Le, produced by them. Besides, I am sure I am good in the roles that I do, or why else would a director or a production house want to repeat me? I know my craft well, which is the most important criterion when Locket Chatterjee is considered for a role.

What’s next for you?

Talks are on with Partha Sen for a film. Raviji (Kinnagi) wants me in his next film. Eskay Movies’ Khokababu is releasing in January, where I play Ferdous’s girlfriend.