How was working for Bengal’s Tollywood different from working in south India’s Tollywood?

I’ve worked in around six industries! Apart from the market size, there isn’t much of a difference. It’s the same logic anywhere in the world. I am an Indian actress and open to whatever comes my way. In case of Aparajita Tumi, I found the script intriguing, the team exciting and the story passionate.... There’s no rulebook.

What did you like most about playing Kuhu?

At the outset, me doing this film was not just about playing Kuhu. Of course it is very important to believe in the character you’re playing, but it was also the combination of skill sets that got me interested in the project. Apart from a good script, Shoojit Sircar’s production, Ranjan Palit on the camera and Aniruddha directing it made it a team that’s good and the subject more solid.

Even in terms of acting, I’ve broken all rules and compared to most of my other films, this has been my most natural, behavioural performance till date. Not just in the way I’ve acted but also the way it was shot. Ranjanda walked around with me, the camera in his hand like a co-actor.

Nothing was about right or wrong. It was about varied emotions and perceptions at that point of time. The energies, the atmosphere was tapped so well. It was very instinctive and reactive to the moment. If we went back and tried repeating the actions, we’d never be able to recreate it.

My interaction with every actor was so real. With Bumbada (Prosenjit) playing Pradip, I did feel like he’s my husband with whom I have two children. With Indraneil (Sengupta) as Yusuf, it was a passion you do feel for an ex. It was a very revealing experience for me.

Did you finally dub for Kuhu?

Yes, I did! Since my character was someone who’s Bengali and has lived all her life in America, we debated on how much of an accent she should have. I don’t know if it’s inborn or circumstantial but it worked. You tend to flow with the accent in which your co-actor is talking. Like for scenes with an American girl who plays my college friend, it came naturally to me when I spoke with an American twang. Difficult were the parts when I’m speaking to Pradip in both English and Bengali. The two languages have different intonations and expressions. If I took 22 days to shoot, I took 20 days to dub, that’s the effort I’ve tried to put in. I hope I’ve done a decent job.

Chandan Roy Sanyal, Kamalinee Mukherjee, Soumitra Chatterjee, Padmapriya and Prosenjit during their shoot in Calcutta. A Telegraph file picture

Who helped you with Bengali?

Bengali is not Greek to me because I know Hindi but I can’t speak it like a Bengali. Indrani (Aniruddha’s wife) was very helpful and extremely patient during the shoot and Sohagdi (Sen) helped during the dubbing. But I took my dubbing lessons from Uttam Kumar! (Laughs.) I watched so many Uttam Kumar movies to understand the sequencing of his voice when he’s speaking. For 10 days I had my earphones on. I would listen to his dialogues on my laptop. I was so charmed by his voice that I’d keep noting down words and repeating them, especially if they matched any dialogue I had in my scenes. Now I feel connected to him!

Who did you bond with the most on the sets?

Only with my character. Kuhu was the only thing closest to me. It may sound funny but it’s true. I was living it. I had a two-day break when I went out with my friends in San Francisco and all I did was just talk about Kuhu. They must have got so bored but she’s the closest I got to on the sets. Without sounding like a typical actress, I want to say I didn’t give myself the time to think or breathe anything else.

How was it working with Prosenjit?

I never had any rehearsals with him. I had met him once in Calcutta and once before in Goa but I did not have any perceived understanding of him as a star. I had my first shot with him and he gave me a free hand to act the way I wanted to, to use his body or his emotions in playing his wife. It just speaks marvellously about his professionalism. It was also very exciting to meet and work with Soumitra Chatterjee. I’ve grown up seeing his films like Apur Sansar and Charulata, and he’s as handsome as ever! I was charmed, not intimidated.

What films are you busy with?

I’m busy with mostly Malayalam and Tamil films. There’s No. 66 Madurai Bus, a travel film-cum-emotional thriller starring Makrand Deshpande and Pashupathy. I am also doing a typical commercial film in the David Dhawan genre called Cobra with Mammootty. There’s Thanga Meengal where I play a Tamil Christian teacher and I’m supposed to sing a song inspired by Pink Floyd’s Wall!

Will we see you in Calcutta for the premiere of Aparajita Tumi?

I really hope so. It surprises me that we don’t have premieres for films in the south. Even if it’s a Rajinikanth film! It’s just not there in the culture. The only film premiere I’ve attended was for my Hindi film Striker, so I really hope to be there for Aparajita Tumi and do my best to reach out to people.