As we bid goodbye to the Goddess on Dashami, the ode to woman power continued with a YFLO talk titled The True Power of a Woman. And the spotlight for the October 22 event at The Park was firmly on actress Konkona Sensharma, in conversation with fashion designer Agnimitra Paul and YFLO chairperson Shradha Agarwaal.
t2 took notes:
My role model
I think of it as very normal, because that was the childhood I knew, but in retrospect I realise that it must have been very unusual. My mother (Aparna Sen) was, and still is, a friend. I respect and admire her immensely. She is somebody with whom I can discuss things I can’t even discuss with my peers, because there is absolutely no judgement. She has lived life on her own terms and never let others define her. I’ve always had a very strong woman role model to look up to, my entire life.
She was very careful with my cultural exposure to the mainstream… (she wanted me to) form my own perceptions before receiving the ones handed to me. I have been hugely privileged to grow up with her. I call my father (Mukul Sharma) Momo, which is his nickname. He has been a great influence as well. He’s a science writer and a humorist — he’s very funny! If I ever feel down, I immediately think of a way to lighten the situation. It’s something I’ve imbibed from him.
The reluctant actor
It’s kind of mystifying to me that I’m an actor today because I never wanted to be one! I was a very quiet and shy child… I was brought up in that kind of a mahaul, with my mother and my grandfather (Chidananda Dasgupta). I was often taken for roles; when I was four years old, I played a little boy in a film called Indira, a Bengali film that my mother was acting in... I just happened to be on set, so they said, ‘let’s cut her hair and put her in’! My first Bengali film was Ek Je Aachhe Kanya. I was in college... we were attending seminars on Theatre of the Absurd, and there I was acting in a film! Acting is really something that just happened along the way.
We studied plays in college, like those by Samuel Beckett. I never went for auditions though — I was too shy and too snobbish! I did theatre in both Calcutta and Delhi afterwards. I worked with Rajat Kapoor and Vinay Pathak for that. I really enjoyed being on stage. But when I started working in films, I was working on so many at once that I never had any time left for anything else.
Talent is not a guarantee of success. There are many, many talented people who don’t make it. I was nominated for an award for Page 3 for Best Debut, and I said, ‘But this is not my debut!’ I had done four films already before that, but it’s only if you act in Hindi films that it becomes a debut!
Page 3 (Konkona’s first Bollywood film) happened after I won the National Award, post-Mr. and Mrs. Iyer. Madhur (Bhandarkar) had called me, as people outside Bengal also got to know me. I was so bowled over by his film Chandni Bar that I said, ‘Of course I’d like to work with you!’ It was a long, erratic, chaotic schedule and at the end of it we had a film that so many people were responding to.
Juggling home & work
I can see so many women nodding because we all do it every day... even my domestic help who leaves her two-year-old at home to work for me. It is incredible that in a world that is not always supportive of these choices, we can achieve so much. What works for me may not work for another family. It’s a balance that you need to find.
I believe that women should have power over their own economic, social, cultural, reproductive and educational choices. The way I was brought up, I had the same education, expectations and qualifications as a man. I have been lucky to have a very supportive, helpful and involved partner [actor Ranvir Shorey. The couple announced a separation in September]. But it’s also the larger society that needs to support us. These are problems that we cannot solve on our own.
Bolly after marriage
It is hugely market-driven. I am lucky that I can do roles that don’t really depend on how old I look. In two of the Hindi films I acted in that were released after I got married, I played women far older than I am. In Gour Hari Dastaan I played a 60-year-old woman, and in Talvar I played the role of Nupur Talwar who is at least 10 years older than my actual age.... So maybe Bollywood does view married actresses differently. Time will tell. It depends on what kind of roles I get.
Talvar of truth
I don’t think my character was underplayed in the movie. It falls into a police procedure kind of genre. To show the effect on the mother was not really the aim of the filmmaker. It was to show what happened in that particular case, the way the Noida police completely mishandled the case, the way the evidence was allowed to be contaminated. I do not know what happened, in the end. No one does, and it may not be possible to find out, so we may never know.... This film only asks questions, the right kind of questions. So one leaves the film not with our questions answered but with the kind of doubts that should have been raised.
Hands-on & helicopter
I would like to think of myself as a hands-on mom, some times! It’s a shock for the system when you become a new mother. But it’s not just the mother that ought to be responsible. The new generation is everyone’s responsibility. This should reflect in policy-making — both corporate and government, it should also reflect in the way society deals with parents. Different kinds of parenting really shouldn’t be scrutinised or judged so much. The kind of helicopter parenting we try to do nowadays is scary!
I would like to set an example for my son (Haroun) as a strong working woman. I’d want him to respect other women as well. As for my mother, her policy was one of benign neglect. Leave them on their own — they’ll grow up just fine, she felt!
Calcutta is home
I’ve not been based in Calcutta for so long that the people I knew, my peer group, are all gone. But I’ve been very fortunate to work in so many wonderful Bengali films. I think some of my best performances have been in Bengali films. I enjoy coming back to Calcutta, living in my mother’s house, working here and being around people I’ve known since my childhood.... It’s not about the city; it’s about the feeling of home that Cal has for me. There’s a deep sense of attachment. This city has made me who I am.
The director
I’m very excited [about her directorial debut, yet unnamed]. It’s a story set in McCluskieganj in 1979. I have written the script. Shooting is set to begin in January 2016. Everything was decided until everything fell through, and now again I’m trying to get it back on the ground. In our film industry, there is very little scope to experiment, because nobody wants to give their money based on originality and content because that might not do well. The only kinds of films that get funding are the kinds with mainstream concepts or with somebody famous in them.
I want to make a film that engages the mind. I don’t believe in ‘entertainment, entertainment, entertainment’! My film will definitely be independent and alternative.
Rushati Mukherjee
Pictures: Ankit Datta
Konkona will make a good director because.... Tell t2@abp.in
