Locket chills in Pattaya. Picture by Aranya Sen

For 10 years, she has played the hero’s sister or boudi but post-Cha E Chhuti, meaningful and meaty roles are making their way to Locket Chatterjee’s plate. A t2 chat...

Playing a lesbian in Cha E Chhuti has turned out to be a turning point in your career...

Yes. Before that I mostly played sister or boudi in commercial films. But with Cha E Chhuti people suddenly took note of me and I realised that I could be taken seriously after 30-plus films and 10 years in the industry. That’s because I had made a bold decision with Cha E Chhuti. Director Aniket Chattopadhyay had offered me the role of the actress in an extramarital affair (played by Anjana Basu) but I chose the lesbian character and it paid off! I am being considered for interesting roles now.

You’ve bagged an important role in Aniket’s Bye Bye Bangkok too...

Yes, it’s a comedy revolving around four couples. My track is with Neel Mukherjee, who plays my husband. He is a very busy corporate guy who has no time for his wife. To escape his wife’s nagging, Neel goes off to Bangkok for a holiday. His driver Rudranil (Ghosh) accompanies him. When the wife comes to know about it, she flies to Bangkok and a relationship develops between her and the driver! The situations are hilarious.

What prompted you to play a thief’s wife in Sekhar Das’s Necklace?

Necklace is going to be a milestone in my career. I wanted to break away from my sophisticated, decent image. Here the way I walk, talk and stare is completely different.

Driver Rudranil gets up close with his employer’s wife Locket in Bye Bye Bangkok. (Aranya Sen)

Weren’t you insecure looking deglam beside Rituparna Sengupta’s glamorous role?

Not at all. People have seen me in glamorous roles before and now I want to establish myself as an actress who can be extremely deglamourised to portray a role convincingly. I want to play roles where I don’t need to be me.

But then why did you decide to play Koel Mullick’s aunt in Prem By Chance?

Playing an aunt doesn’t always mean that I am made to look older and that I don’t have anything to do in the film. In Prem By Chance, I play Koel’s young, unmarried aunt. She decided not to marry because of a past incident and she helps the lovers (Koel and Abir Chatterjee) unite. The character has an identity, and, besides, the production house (MK Media) is good. See, we sometimes take up a role even though it is small because of the banner. Besides, I can’t just sit and wait for meaty roles. And as an actor, I need to polish my skills too. These small roles help me hone my acting skills.

Do you think you would have become a top-notch heroine had you played your cards well?

Perhaps few people know that I had started off as a heroine opposite Jisshu Sengupta in Ektu Chhonwa. But the film didn’t succeed at the box-office and I never got another solo film. I have played the second leading lady in many films, though. Back then, directors had a different mentality. They felt that if an actress is doing television, she couldn’t be cast as a heroine. They would ask me to stop doing TV, but I got more satisfaction as a TV actress. I was part of hit TV serials like Spandan, Antaraley apart from several telefilms directed by Prabhat Roy, Atanu Ghosh and Biresh Chatterjee.... If today I am finally getting different roles it is because I had worked in those telefilms.

Looking back, any regrets for playing only didi and boudi characters?

No regrets. I got offers from big banners like Shree Venkatesh Films. Publicity was important. When I go to the suburbs for shows, people ask me to repeat my dialogues from Poran Jai Joliya Re, even though I had very few scenes as Dev’s boudi in that film. I took up whatever roles came my way, instead of putting my foot down and waiting for heroine-centric roles. These roles made me famous. I wanted to be around, I wanted people to remember me. If it was by playing a didi or a boudi, then why not?

Not everyone can be a heroine. Maybe my path is slightly different from Rituparna and Rachana’s, but our destination is the same. I too will reach the top, maybe not as a heroine but as a good actress.

Films ready for release:

•Aparna Sen’s Iti Mrinalini

•Atanu Ghosh’s Takhan Teish

•Sekhar Das’s Necklace

•Sudeshna Roy-Abhijit Guha’s Prem By Chance

•Joy Mukherjee’s Ogo Bideshini