The widow Bijolibala is the only companion of her much-younger crippled neighbour Radha. As the two start chatting, memories come rushing in — of the days when Bijolibala ushered the young bride Radha into her new home, of the days when she would watch youths running after kites on the terrace. Gautam Halder shot some flashback scenes (pictures above) for Mukti with Rakhee Gulzar as Bijolibala and Chaiti Ghoshal as Radha at a Pathuriaghata residence last week. Pictures by Pradip Sanyal

They were mother and daughter in Aparna Sen’s Parama. Twenty-seven years later, Rakhee Gulzar and Chaiti Ghoshal have come together to play neighbours in Gautam Halder’s Mukti. Done with her day’s work, Chaiti settles down for a chat with t2...

Tell us what you play in Mukti...

My character, Radha, is a romantic. She loves to be free amongst nature. She runs after stray kites and stays up at night to listen to the cooing of the cuckoo. She is ‘alive’ in a different sense. Yet, she is lonely in her marriage and feels stifled. Her husband does not reach out to her.

When she suffers a fall from the stairs leading to paralysis, there’s a rumour that it is not an accident and her husband was behind it. But nothing is established. After that, she gives up the desire to live. Bijolibala, who drops by to see her everyday, is Radha’s only outlet. It is to her that Radha pleads, ‘Pray to your god, ebar amay mukti dite bolo’. That’s how the character connects with the title of the film.

What made you pick this role?

I was working with Gautamda in his play Raktakarabi, and that was when he mentioned the role to me. He is such a sensitive director that I was dying to continue working with him. And Radha is an interesting character. It may not be a big role but she comes in key sequences and portrays emotions that form the crux of the narrative.... Earlier, television programmes used to take up most of my time. Now that I plan to work in films a lot more, I have cut down on my TV work.

Gautam Halder said there are shades of Charulata in Radha...

There are shades. Radha is in a big household with nothing much to do. She is lonely. But the thirst for freedom is such a dominant instinct in human beings that it brings in shades of so many other characters I have loved and played. There is Amal from Dakghar. Or Nandini from Raktakarabi.

How was it working with Rakhee?

I was in the seventh grade in school when I played Rakhee’s daughter in Parama. That was my debut in films. When I met her this time, I walked up to her and asked her if she remembered me. She smiled and said, ‘Chaiti, do you want me to tell you the first dialogue you had? Shetao mone achhey!’

She is very sweet and adorable and lovely to work with. Sometimes she would find it a bit difficult to cope with the commotion on the sets. Working with her has been a pleasure.

Any new projects coming up?

I am very excited about my latest television act. I have anchored The Warrior Prince, a documentary on Sourav Ganguly which was televised nationally on STAR Sports last week. On stage, Raktakarabi is on. As far as films go, Arjun Chakraborty is keen to work with me in his next film which should start soon.

A dinner party hosted by Sundeep Bhutoria at The Conclave on Sunday night saw some Tollywood faces chilling out over food and adda. (Right) Prosenjit chats with Rajiv Arora, a member of the Central Board of Film Certification.	Actress Ananya Chatterjee shares a laugh with Prosenjit.
Life Goes On director Sangeeta Datta, who sang Sakhi bhabona kahare bole at the party, with Arindam Sil.	“I’ve taken a two-month break from work. I want to chill out in Calcutta with friends and my son Aakash,” said Roopa Ganguly.