Sameera Reddy is thrilled about the fact that she has been able to break out of her “hot babe” image with Kaalpurush, where she has Rahul Bose and Mithun Chakraborty as co-stars. Sameera tells t2 what the film about a father-son relationship means to her...

Kaalpurush has been a turning point in my life...

I took up this film only because of Dada (Buddhadeb). I cherish working with him. Shooting with him, I have enjoyed a different cinematic journey. Dada had absolute faith in me. I still remember the first day when he presented me to the press in Calcutta. He made me wear a pink Bangali sari.

I am a director’s baby...

I had completely surrendered myself to Dada. I knew about his work and while doing Kaalpurush, I learnt some beautiful nuances of acting from him. What I learn from my directors is very important for me. I don’t measure success in terms of the highs and lows of my films but by the experience I gather from my directors...

I play a housewife trapped in a bad marriage...

Supriya, my character, is the wife of Sumanto (Rahul Bose). But she becomes a writer later and I am sure many women will relate to the character, not just because she is trapped in a bad marriage but also because she could make it big despite not being in conducive situations.

I think playing characters with layers is easier than doing glam roles...

Because films like Kaalpurush allow us to focus more on the character. And my character in Kaalpurush has very interesting layers. When we do the glamourous roles, the focus is more on hair, make-up and styling. If time permits I want to do more Bengali films.

Dada had strictly told me to wear no make-up...

So, I wear only a thin layer of kajal and a bit of powder. That’s it. I had already got a tan during the shooting of Musafir in Goa just before Kaalpurush, so there was no extra effort to sport a tanned look.

Sameera as Supriya in Kaalpurush

I am very comfortable in saris...

That’s what people keep asking me all the time. Not many know that I am a trained Kathak dancer and I am extremely comfortable wearing a sari. I have a different image because I do masala Bollywood films.

I had a tough time picking up Bangla...

Rahul may have shut his ears while I spoke Bangla but I had to put in a lot of effort! People have no idea what I had to go through. I used to practise with Babli (Buddhadeb’s daughter). Dada helped me a lot too. He understood my frequency and helped me get better with every shot.