Draped in a crisp blue cotton sari, Konkona Sensharma settles down for a chat in a 20th-floor apartment on Prince Anwar Shah Road. “Calcutta has changed so much, so many new places that I don’t even know of!” she
exclaims, as we get talking about her March 20 release Sajarur Kanta...

Did you say yes to Sajarur Kanta because it’s a film on Byomkesh Bakshi, who’s the centre of attention of so many Bengali filmmakers?

Well, I haven’t seen any of the Byomkesh films yet. I said yes because it’s always nice to work with people who you know. Generally in films there are a lot of different kinds of people who come and go and one has had all kinds of experiences. So there’s somebody (Sajarur Kanta directed by Saibal Mitra and produced by Pradip Churiwal) you know and you can vouch for the fact that they are decent, bhadralok... well behaved and will make a decent film. For me that’s one big thing. Besides Sajarur Kanta is a much loved novel, everyone’s read it. So I knew that people would be interested or want to know. And I like the character Dipa because she is a little weird. You are not sure about her in the beginning; Saibalda has made a few changes of course from the original book. So all of that appealed to me.    

Have you read Sajarur Kanta, the novel?

I read English novels very fast. But my Bangla is a little weak. I mean I can speak very well but while reading it takes time. So I haven’t been able to read Bengali novels as much as I would have liked to. This happens when you study in an English-medium school. And since I went to Calcutta International School my Bangla is…. I don’t read as much, so it’s a regret of my life. I always say that I am a con woman because people assume that I automatically read a lot of Bengali novels.

You’ve seen your portions in Sajarur Kanta while dubbing, did you like yourself?

Yes! I like myself! I like the fact that she (Dipa) is not very typical. In the script all of them are suspects, you don’t know who the murderer is. So there is a time when you are eyeing her suspiciously also. That kind of balances whether she is innocent or guilty, that’s very interesting.

Do you like being a part of thrillers?

Why? Am I part of any other thrillers?

You are shooting for Nyodda, a thriller with Irrfan Khan...

Oh yes, we just wrapped up. I play the mother there (based on the Arushi Talwar murder case).

You did Deadline: Sirf 24 Ghante, which too was a thriller…

Yes, with Irrfan. You know, I don’t like playing the typical, stereotyped characters. I like playing characters that are slightly different, she can be evil or good or grey, a questionable character or going through a transition. I don’t think that films are only entertainment, entertainment and entertainment. I like things which make you think or which make you feel something that you are not sure about. Like empathising with a villain. You know, things which make you feel like a human being. What is the human experience like or what is the human condition, how people experience humanity differently. All of these I find very interesting. That’s the reason why I am very fond of human drama. Subtle, human drama... it is my favourite genre or forte. I like watching crime fiction... The Killing, Forensic Files. I am not really scared of thrillers, I am scared of ghosts. The supernatural scares me. Black Mirror, a UK show, is very interesting too, which is about a dystopian future. It’s disturbing, futuristic where things are going wrong with technology.

Do you watch a lot of TV?

Some shows, yes. I don’t know how to download. Either Ranvir (Shorey, husband) downloads or we have it on Apple TV. I store those and when I get time at night I watch one or two. I watch Sherlock Holmes, Mrs Marple, Hitchcock. I like crime-based board games too. What is left to the imagination is scary.  

What do you like watching with your son Haroun ?

Haroun and I watch Wall-E together. He is going to be four next month, he is too young.

Have you had a nail-biting experience while reading a book recently?

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. It’s more of a psychological drama but it’s about crime, based on a true incident about a 16-year-old woman who killed a couple of people in Canada. I am mainly interested in drama... psychological dramas or human dramas but written in a sophisticated, complex, layered or subtle fashion, not like on the nose. I like things that are layered and complicated.

How complicated are you in real life?

I am definitely complicated, thank god! I mean I don’t want to be a simpleton. (Laughs) Of course I am complicated... I mean in a normal way. I think most people are. It’s not that I am not straight-forward, but just to have many different kinds of layers or different kinds of thoughts, something out of the ordinary or being able to experience many different kinds of things... I mean complicated in that sense, not like pyachano (twisted).

And how adventurous are you?

Not at all. I am very indoors type, playing board games, watching films, reading books…. I am not the type to go bungee jumping or sky-diving, I have no interest. I am scared. I can’t go on a roller-coaster ride, I hate it when the driver drives fast. I keep telling him to slow down. No adventurous bone in me. It’s all in the mind. Mentally I am adventurous, physically coward... not a moral coward, just a physical coward! (Laughs)

Is there anything remotely adventurous that you’ve ever done?

Well, I stayed in a tree house in Kerala on a holiday once, which was quite adventurous... rope bridge, no walls and monkeys coming into the house at night. Frightening!  

Do you have a fear that you are yet to overcome?

So many. I’m scared of water, scared of the dark, scared of flying. I have many fears to overcome... I am working on it, slowly! Flying from Calcutta is very difficult because of low pressure above the Bay of Bengal. I wasn’t scared of flying but ever since I had my son I have been quite scared of flying. Bombay-Calcutta is a very turbulent route. But all my fears are physical. If I have to say something to someone, I have no fear. I feel some of my fears I must overcome, they are inconvenient. Maybe on a shoot I have to take a roller-coaster ride, what would I do?

What’s keeping you busy back in Bombay?

I am writing my script. I am looking for funding now. It’s gone to the NFDC script lab. Martin Rabbet (writer-actor who has penned the 1989 TV series Island Son) is my mentor. I am writing the fourth draft now and that’s also a slightly scary film, a psychological drama, very dark. I want to direct it. It’s an English-Hindi-Bangla film, very indie space, not at all mainstream. That apart I have just finished two Hindi films, Nyodda with Irrfan, directed by Meghna Gulzar, and Alankrita Shrivastava’s Lipstick Waale Sapne.

Kushali Nag
What are your expectations from Konkona the filmmaker? Tell t2@abp.in