Sporting a red top, loose trousers, black waistcoat and kohl-lined eyes behind shades, Rituparno Ghosh adjusted the string on his dainty sling purse, as he strolled through the waterlogged lanes of Kumartuli as Roop, a gay filmmaker in Kaushik Ganguly’s film Arekti Premer Galpo. The director had his first tryst with acting on Monday morning as he stood amidst rickety sheds and idols in the making. “This scene takes place when Abhiroop (Rituparno) along with his DoP Basudeb (Indraneil Sengupta) and their executive producer Ashok (Arindam Sil) arrive at Kumartuli in search of Ma Shitola. Since Chapal Bhaduri, who is the inspiration for the film, would enact Shitola’s part in jatra towards the end of his career, the documentary crew comes to examine the idols,” explained Kaushik. Picture by Aranya Sen