Picture by Pabitra Das

Your kissing scenes with Arunoday Singh in Mirch was as talked about as the movie. How did your parents react after watching the film?

They loved it! My father saw it twice and my mother (Moon Moon Sen) thought I have really matured as an actress. They didn’t have problems about the kissing scenes, surprisingly.... Women have loved the film more then men.... And guess what? Yash Chopra called and complimented me!

Are you now being offered more movies with kissing scenes?

Not really. I did Mirch because it was a women-oriented film and I had a good role. The script needed those kissing scenes. But I will not repeat what I did in Mirch. I will do a kissing scene only if it is absolutely necessary for the film, but nothing like that of Mirch.

In a recent t2 interview, you said you find it difficult to play yourself. What did you mean exactly?

You know, somehow I can’t be me in front of the camera. People often tell me we want to cast you the way you are. But I know that I have never really been myself in front of the camera. Maybe my role in The Bong Connection was like me in parts. I become a different person before the camera.

Someone like you is what you play in Srijit’s (Mukherjee) 22shey Srabon?

Well, I play a girl who works in a TV channel. She’s someone who knows her mind. There’s Abir (Chatterjee) who is my childhood friend. He is my comfort zone and there’s no romance with him. With Parambrata (Chattopadhyay), it’s a more conventional relationship. He plays my boyfriend.

What about Rituparno Ghosh’s Chitrangada: The Crowning Wish?

There I play Kasturi, a dancer and Jisshu’s (Sengupta) girlfriend. It’s not a big role but an important one.... Everytime Rituda gives me a small role, he compensates it with a big role. After these two movies, I will do a Malayalam film called Veera Puthran. It’s a period film and I am opposite Prithviraj.

Do you do a lot of films down south now?

Not much. My sister (Riya) has done quite a few in various south Indian languages. And my mother had done a lot of such films too.

Don’t you feel pressured to be in the Bollywood race of bagging big films with big banners?

Picture: Pabitra Das; make-up: Aniruddha Chakladar

Not at all. I do films at my own pace. I am lucky to be getting the offers that I do and I am lucky to have done the films I did. There’s no pressure from anyone to do anything.

But don’t you get stressed about lagging behind?

Well, I am ambitious but I am not that ambitious. My mother has not been like that either. I am very happy with my work flow. I am not insecure. I have come a long way and it has been a journey for me. I would only be jittery if I had no work for two years. If I had to be in the race, I would have done a lot more films. I have had a lot offers which I didn’t take. I don’t need to prove anything. I have done that already.

You mingle with people very casually and normally, unlike how stars behave usually...

I think it is a great way to be! You know my mother always told us to be nice to everyone. You never know when you need someone. And I enjoy being normal. I love company, I love being with people. I love to hang out on the sets when I am shooting.

But your grandmother (Suchitra Sen) was known to stay aloof even at her peak...

And I admire her for that. My mom wasn’t like that. But my grandmother was a huge star! We haven’t reached anywhere near her. I would say she would keep a little distance from others and I think that was necessary considering the position she held. During my grandmother’s time, stars used to be reclusive. There was a mystery surrounding them. Nowadays, we are so accessible. Today stars are on Facebook and Twitter, promoting themselves. You get to know what they are doing every minute. There’s no mystery around anyone. Times have changed.

You say you’re single now. Do you worry about when the right man will come along?

One thing I have learnt is that you will never find anything if you go out looking for it. I believe there is a time and place for everything.

No pressure from parents?

There’s a kind of pressure that I need to settle down now but I am in no rush. I just don’t want to rush into marriage. It’s a lifelong a thing. If you need time, you should take time. Because when I get married, it has to be forever.

Even if it is at 40?

Forty is the new 30, you know!

What about kids?

I want to have kids but right now I can’t even think of that.

And you wouldn’t go in for a live-in relationship...

No. Neither do my parents approve of it. I believe in the institution of marriage. And despite what it may seem from the outside, we have been raised very conventionally. Riya and I... personally we are not okay with the idea.

Three things we don’t know about you...

● I have a very bad temper. Only my parents know it. I don’t lose my temper more than once in five months. A couple of times I have lost it at the workplace. The reason was the inefficiency of some people. ● I am very punctual and I am a nag when it comes to punctuality. ● I am very adventurous. I like adventure sports... sky diving, roller-coaster. I am yet to try bungee jumping.... I like to let go once in a while.

Would you consider living in with someone before marriage to test your suitability?

No. My father says there has to be some mystery in the relationship before marriage. Once you start living in, you often don’t want to get married.

So what kind of a guy would you want as a husband?

Someone responsible… and fun.

That’s all?

(Thinks hard) Yeah...

Not richer than you?

Yes, a fat bank balance would be great! (Laughs.)

Any regrets about relationships that didn’t work out?

No. No regrets about any relationship. I live in the moment, I don’t brood over the past. I don’t look too far into the future, neither do I look too far into the past. But of course I never learn from my mistakes!

On a different note, I do have regrets. I regret not having done screen-tests for several movies. You know I have this silly screen-test phobia. I have missed out on a lot of films with big directors in Bollywood. Just because I wouldn’t go for an audition! That’s my biggest drawback. I get the jitters if someone calls me for an audition, even today!

Among the four women in your family, who do you think is the best actress?

Must you ask me this question! My grandmother is the best. Also, Ma. But grandmother had the best of everything… best directors, best films.

Between you and Riya?

Riya is equally talented. It’s just that I have been very lucky with the films I got. I think people will really sit up when they see her in Noukodubi.

Which directors do you want to work with?

Mani Ratnam, Imtiaz Ali, Anurag Basu, Anurag Kashyap and Ashutosh Gowariker. Also Yash Chopra. I have grown up watching Yash Chopra films.

upcoming releases:

• Rituparno Ghosh’s Noukodubi
• Sanjay Nag’s Memories in March
• Aditi Roy’s Abosheshey
• Tanuja Chandra’s Raakh, co-starring Rajeev Khandelwal and Veer Das