Shrabanti as Chaitali and a young Rasomoyi; with Aparna Sen on the sets of Goynar Baksho

For someone used to prancing around the hero singing songs, April 12 release Goynar Baksho is a life-changing departure. Shrabanti tells t2 about turning a page in her acting career under Aparna Sen’s directorial eye.

Your first art-house film after 14 masala movies — has Goynar Baksho been an easy transition for a heroine known for her bubbly-chirpy image?

After doing so many masala films, I didn’t believe that I too could do a film like Goynar Baksho (produced by Shree Venkatesh Films). In every interview I would be asked, ‘Shrabanti, why do you do the same type of films? Why don’t you do something different?’ Finally, my time came and I got an offer. At first I was a little tense. For the two characters I play — Chaitali and a young Rasomoyi — I have a total no-make-up look. Everyday I would ask Rinadi (Aparna): ‘Am I looking good?’And she would tell me to trust her. When I saw myself on the monitor and also while dubbing, I really loved myself! (Giggles)

You had told t2 earlier that you were nervous about the Goynar Baksho workshop as you had never done one before. How did it go?

Darun laglo! My first workshop was at Konkonadi’s (Sensharma) house in Bombay. I was shooting for Deewana in Hyderabad and after wrapping up the shoot, I flew to Bombay alone and landed up at Konkonadi’s house. I was so tense! Moushumidi (Chatterjee), Rinadi, Sohagdi (Sen) were all there. And I thought, ‘I have never done workshops, God knows how it would go!’ But it was good. We all had lunch together and honestly, I learnt a lot.

What did you learn?

I learnt the right eye expressions, dialogue variations, discipline.... Rinadi has inspired me in many ways, she is still so energetic at this age…. A lot of my problems were rectified. Sohagdi pointed out so many things that I had to work on. See, I have been acting since childhood but I have never learnt acting. I never did workshops... so I loved it! I am such a talkative person and even during dialogue delivery, I would go on talking. But Goynar Baksho is a period piece and I needed to talk slowly. As Rasomoyi too, I had to wear a different body language. Sohagdi helped me with all this.

So you realised that you actually learnt the ABC of acting while working on Goynar Baksho?

Absolutely. When I went for the workshop in Bombay, I felt like a newcomer, a little girl who has just stepped into the industry. And they treated me like one too! Rinadi was so motherly. See, I am like water. Pour me in a container and I will take its shape. I have started shooting for a masala movie, opposite Hiraan, and there I’m again this bubbly daughter of a rich man. When I do masala movies, I know I have to do the thumkas. But in the other type of cinema, I know I have to be restrained. I had trouble at first but I think the workshop really helped me.

Aparna is known to be a hard taskmaster. Did you ever get a firing?

Yes! One day I was late for the shoot and Rinadi scolded me. But after that she offered me Monaco biscuits and she would put extra cheese on top! Rinadi is a perfectionist, she explains each and every shot, whether it’s the eye movement or the dialogue delivery. Her filmmaking process is different. See, shot-taking was almost the same as the other films I have worked in but Rinadi does everything very naturally. The most important difference is that there were no song sequences shot abroad! Everything was very real. The lighting is so beautiful. Soumikda (Halder, DoP) has shot a scene where moonlight is falling on me and when I checked the monitor I was shocked to see how natural it looked! In one of the scenes, I was supposed to smoke and the shot needed many retakes, so for every retake Rinadi would light a cigarette, smoke a bit and then give it to me. In every scene, action-continuity was maintained to the T.

Is smoking yet another thing you learnt for Goynar Baksho?

No-no, I knew how to smoke! I would puff on my mama’s bidi when I was a child... I was a bit of a tomboy. I don’t smoke now.... But riding a scooter was difficult though I ride a Scooty in real life. The scooter we had for the shoot was Seventies-style. It was heavy and I fell down and hurt myself several times. The gear was a problem.

You are a huge fan of Konkona. How was it playing her daughter?

Yes, I am a big fan of Konkonadi. It was difficult to address her as Ma... she is a roga, patla bachcha meye! She’s looking so cute in the scene in which the mother and daughter talk. She is such a good actress. When she was playing an aged Somlata, she brought a heaviness into her voice… she is awesome! I’ve seen Page 3, Titli, Ek Je Achhe Kanya... uff, attitude achhe boss! I told her, I’m a big fan of yours, I love your acting, attitude and voice. She said, ‘Thank you go, tumio khub mishti’.

Do you want to do more films like Goynar Baksho?

Of course. My friends who’ve seen the posters of Goynar Baksho told me, ‘Arrey Ghintu, you are looking so different!’ I hope I get more offers!