Ritu's me-time

Tollywood’s busiest actress lives in a pretty, sprawling three-storeyed house in Lake Gardens. The ground floor is strictly for business, where anyone with prior appointment can meet her. The first floor houses two bedrooms, a living-cum-dining room and the kitchen. The second floor belongs exclusively to Rituparna, with her two dressing rooms, bedroom, drawing room and balcony. t2 tiptoes...

The second-floor balcony is where I spend some me-time at night after work...

I like to relax in the balcony attached to my living room. The best part of being home is being able to stretch on a chair here and sip a cup of steaming Horlicks when the sun is setting. But such luxuries are rare in my life... that’s the flip side of being an actress. I am usually shooting for the better part of the day, so I manage to sit out at night. I put on some classical music, sit quietly and look into the distance. That’s sheer bliss for me!

One thing you didn’t know about Rituparna:

She is a trained painter. Rituparna picks up her crayons and pencils whenever she has some time to spare. “I learnt pencil sketching, origami and clay modelling at Chitrangshu, an art school on Raja Basanta Roy Road. Chitrangshu will always be special for me because that’s where I met and fell in love with Sanjay. I wasn’t much into clay modelling but I was good at sketching. I was recently in Raipur shooting for my Hindi film Aalaap and in between shots I finished a whole painting. My director Manish Manikpuri was surprised. He said, ‘Ritu, we didn’t know you are such a good painter!’ Maybe some day I will have an exhibition. One life and so much left to do...” muses the actress, squatting on the floor around her colour pencils.

Say ‘cheese’!

I have had a knack for photography since childhood. When I am home, I like taking candid shots of Sanjay (husband) and Ankan (son). I like clicking Sanjay when he plays the sarod. Recently, I made my son pose for me in a dhoti and turban! I have two digital cameras of Nikon and Canon make.

Mushy films are a must-watch when I’m alone...

When I’m home alone and have nothing to do, I pick up a mushy romantic film from the DVD drawer and enjoy three hours of rona-dhona, fights and high drama (laughs)! I am not into action films like Sanjay. I am a very emotional person and my kind of films have to run high on emotions.

I love to read before going to bed...

I scarcely get the time to read but I love to sit with a book before going to bed. I have just finished Vikram Sampath’s My Name Is Gauhar Jaan and what a book it was! I also read a lot of journals that Sanjay passes down to me.