Rituparna and Vishaal shoot for A Reality Show. Picture by Aranya Sen

In a small hotel room, director Papiya Adhikary instructs newcomer Vishaal to pull Rituparna Sengupta’s chiffon pallu and reveal her satin halterneck blouse.

Shy and shaky, Vishaal turns away from his heroine. Rituparna then cosies up to him, looks straight into his eyes and admonishes Vishaal with a giggle: “Hero eto lajja pele ki kore hobe! (How will it work if the hero is so shy!)”

On the sets of Papiya’s directorial debut A Reality Show, Rituparna is making an effort to put her debutant hero at ease while shooting an intimate scene.

“I always take on the responsibility of making my heroes comfortable while shooting. I am not only asking Vishaal to relax, I am also teaching him the camera angles. Just imagine I have so many things to do — remember my lines, the script, the director’s inputs — and add to that the task of making my hero comfortable!” says Rituparna, who plays an actress in the film. Vishaal plays her NRI lover.

“This had happened with Angshuman, too, on the sets of Trishna. So what if they are newcomers? If they have chosen acting as their profession they should leave their inhibitions behind at home. Besides, newcomers should realise that the audience will gauge their performance as actors and not as newcomers. So they must be comfortable in intimate scenes. It’s an integral part of cinema,” adds Rituparna.

Though the number one heroine is trying her best to make Vishaal feel at home, the room (in Chrome, the new hotel on AJC Bose Road) crammed with lights, camera and crew is giving Vishaal the toughest time of his life.

“This is the first day of my shoot with none other that Rituparna and we are shooting an intimate song sequence which needs me to be intimate with her! I admit I am a bit nervous but I am sure I will be able to overcome my inhibitions with time,” says the Sindhi boy who has grown up in New Alipore.

Kushali Nag