Priyanka with daughter Naiima

Priyanka Bose, who hit the spotlight with Italo Spinelli’s Gangor (2010), plays a woman rediscovering herself in Goutam Ghose’s Shunyo Awnko. A t2 chat with the Bong belle.

How would you interpret your role in Shunyo Awnko?

I play Jhilik who is married to Agni Bose (Priyanshu Chatterjee). We’ve been married for seven or eight years. Jhilik used to be a very independent girl, flying with an airline, partying, shopping and all that. She met Agni on a flight, they fell in love and she was quite prepared to give everything up and settle down after she found an anchor in him.... The film starts where she is at the crossroads, of being confused and feeling a bit hollow. She doesn’t know where her life is going. A phase that everyone goes through where they re-question and want to experience new things. Also, the political drama in the film intertwines with their lives and brings them closer. Now she’s realising that she needs to work things out, which she does with the help of the other characters who come into her life. That’s my interpretation of the character.

How did you land the role?

I’ll do anything that Goutam Ghose is writing, so when they called me, without even hearing what it was about or what the cast was going to be, I said yes. For me, I was going to be a lead character in Goutam Ghose’s film so I bloody well say yes! Although Goutam Sir’s other films have been completely different from what he’s trying to do in this one. Here he’s giving his actors a lot of time and material to discover it for themselves. It’s turning out to be very interesting.

How did the shoot at Manali go?

It was cold, cold, cold! I used to visit Manali a lot during my growing-up years in Delhi. The hook line in the film is ‘everything is a sacrifice to your memory’ and it made complete sense for me to relive those moments.

Were you waiting for the right director or genre to make your debut in Bengali cinema?

I’ve done Gangor, which was a Mahasweta Devi story directed by Italo Spinelli. I’m very proud of Gangor and the way it was received, so after that I didn’t want to say yes to almost everything that came my way. The niche kind of cinema I want to do or the people I want to work with, I had already identified that in my head. I just wanted them to pick up the phone and call me.

What is your Calcutta connection?

I was born in Calcutta and moved out when I was four years old. I’ve grown up in Delhi and made Bombay my home for the past seven years. But I used to come here very often because amar Ma’r barir everyone is here. Now I’m glad that work has become a leisure trip here.

Did you train to be an actor?

I’ve been dancing and training since 10 but when I decided I wanted to be an actor my father was very sceptical.... Of course it’s been a struggle but acting has always been a focus and I’ve been doing various other things too.

Such as?

I’ve just started a production company called PaapiPet Pictures with my friend Joydeep Sarkar. We’ve produced three music videos for Kailash Kher — Rangeeley, Tu kya jaaney and Yaadan. It’s been incredibly fulfiling and I’m very proud of the work that’s come out of my womb, literally. The idea is to, yes, make money but most importantly have a story to tell. We want to focus on making cinema.

Any international projects after Gangor?

I am doing two, both on child trafficking. One is called Oass, by Abhinav Tiwari... a very dark and realistic script. My bits were shot in Delhi. The other is called Sold [co-starring Gillian Anderson of X-Files and David Arquette of Scream, with Emma Thompson as executive producer!]... a completely international project by an American director called Jeffrey D. Brown. It’s about a little girl from Nepal being trafficked and prostituted. I play a star prostitute in the brothel she comes into. The film will be shot in Bombay, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

In Bollywood, you had bit roles in Johnny Gaddaar, Love Sex Aur Dhoka and Guzaarish....

Bollywood is very popular and in your face but it hasn’t taken notice of me. I’ve been getting some not-so-hot roles, which I’m saying no to. It’s not about what character I play but the question is, does it have catharsis or layers for me to work on? I’m going to mark my own niche doing independent cinema and Bollywood films, and I am trying to look for the best possible deal for me.

Goutam Ghose told us you’re a talented tango dancer. Are we going to see a bit of that in Shunyo Awnko?

Maybe… who knows?! I did a little bit of tango in Guzaarish but I’m actually a salsa enthusiast. I’m trained in contemporary dance but I know every form of Latin American dancing because I love it.

Your daughter’s on the shoot with you…

Yes, she’s called Naiima and she’s three. An actor’s journey is quite a singular, alone process and I try to travel with her so that she is in tune with me and I’m in tune with her. My husband (Paresh Kamath) is a guitarist and musician for Kailash Kher and he always says that a child is raised by an entire village and not one person, so we ensure that we involve everyone in her education. She’ll be going to school from April but I want to educate her under the tree!