In Dibakar Banerjee’s Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! trailer, which hit YouTube on Wednesday, Swastika Mukherjee is the mystery woman you can’t take your eyes off! t2 hears it from Anguri Devi...

The Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! trailer is kick-ass to say the least...

Yes, yes, yes! I think it’s a great opportunity for any actor to get this kind of a role in his/her first Hindi film. I mean there’s so much on the platter as you can make out from the trailer. I have always been interested in performance-driven roles, playing characters where I have a lot to contribute. There could have been nothing bigger than what I have got in Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!. My character Anguri Devi is complicated and difficult. I’m sure one will realise that after watching the trailer. You already know that this woman is doing so much. She is laughing, she is sexy and she is dangerous...

And mysterious too...

Oh yes. Anguri is engulfed in mystery. She is very, very mysterious and that’s what makes her so interesting. Even in the trailer she looks mysterious. She is standing with a gun, she is swimming, she is an actress who is also very seductive...

Yes, from the trailer it looks like she is seducing Byomkesh...

Of course she is! 

The focus of this trailer is entirely on you and Byomkesh. You are seducing him, being intimate with him and then you are undressing... how bold is Anguri?

She is an actress. I can’t give away much at this stage.... You can never actually figure out what she is or who she is. A very intriguing character. She is a puzzle one has to solve with a lot of patience. There’s everything that an actress can show and do in this film. I’m very excited actually (laughs).

And are there lots of steamy scenes?

Oh lots! There’s lots of steam. So don’t forget to carry a towel when you watch the film! I was so excited after watching the trailer that I called up Mainak (Bhaumik, filmmaker) to say that I was feeling surreal! I’m feeling sick!

Tell us about the bathtub scene...

It took 12 hours to finish that scene. By the time the shoot got over I had the skin of a 90-year-old! All saggy... though it was the most difficult scene, it was the most wonderful scene too. In that scene I was given a 1940s Vogue to read. Even the loofah is from the ’40s. 

There is a shot where we see you in the background, coming down the stairs in a long gown, and then it cuts to the next scene where your legs can be seen...

Yes. I am wearing a skirt and a top but underneath it I’m actually wearing a swimsuit. I’m glad that in my Bollywood debut none other than Manish Malhotra did my costumes. Anu Kaushik did my make-up. Everything was so perfect. And would you believe for the entire schedule I slept with 50 rollers in my hair to get those curls! The brief was that my curls should look as natural as possible. There’s a lot of detailing with make-up, eye make-up, costumes lipstick... I couldn’t have asked for more. The only thing that can be bigger than this is if I do a film with Salman Khan now! (Laughs out loud)

Kushali Nag