Rajeshwari Sachdev at The Park

She’s been part of six Shyam Benegal films, including Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda, Sardari Begum and Bose: The Forgotten Hero. Now, Rajeshwari Sachdev is busy with her television show Laut Aao Trisha (Life OK), that brought her down to Calcutta. A t2 chat...

You keep coming to Calcutta....

I have been here many times. Calcutta has a distinct character, that’s what I like. You go to any city, they all start looking the same after a point of time. Luckily for Calcutta, it’s still retained its old-world charm. Very few cities are left in our country where you go aur aapko khushboo hi alag aati hai.

You are doing a TV show after a long time. What made you say yes to Laut Aao Trisha?

I said yes to the story and then my character. I like my character — Lavanya is not a sobbing mother, she’s not one-dimensional. She is a woman, who despite the crisis (when her niece Trisha is kidnapped) is still trying to pay attention to the family business. There could be an audience that could say ‘Yuck...what a woman!’ and there could be people who understand that somebody has to keep the family and business together. If I am doing TV after so long, it better be something that keeps my interest alive... otherwise what’s the point?

The show focuses on some scandalous relationships, including incest...

Apart from being a thriller, the show is also going to question a lot of relationships. Zindagi mein zaroori nahin ki jaise kitaabon mein likha gaya hai, saare rishtey usi tarah se play out ho. If Lavanya is having an affair or there is something brewing between cousins (Trisha and her first cousin Vivaan), then it’s not necessarily right or wrong. We are just saying it happened... now how do you deal with it?

It’s not that people don’t have extra-marital affairs. It’s not necessary that a person who is having an extra-marital affair is morally not ethical. You may have a perfect marriage like Lavanya does, but along the way, maybe there is somebody else who gives her something more.

What kept you busy all this time before Laut Aao Trisha?

For the last four years, I was raising my kid and so I couldn’t work much. But I played the role of Rajkumari Amrit Kaur in Samvidhaan on Rajya Sabha TV and I did a film called Samhita that got a National Award. Then there was Issaq (starring Prateik Babbar), that didn’t do too well.

You act, sing and dance. Are you partial to any one?

It’s all assimilated in me as an actor now. So, I am basically an actor. Dancing hasn’t taken a back seat. I am a classical dancer. Classical dance shows happen rarely... if they do, I will be the first person up there. I have done my share of Punjabi, Hindi, Marathi films. Not a single Bengali film has come to me.

When will we see you and your husband Varun Badola together on screen again?

Nobody is giving something great to us. Imagine two terrific actors with so much passion for their work... we’ll set the screen on fire! (Laughs)

What do you watch on TV?

I used to watch Homeland... I got hooked to it. And I do watch House. I can’t miss it. I am in love with Hugh Laurie! (Giggles)

Nalini Negi plays the role of Trisha, the girl who goes missing on the show. An instance of Nalini’s reel life meeting real life? The Delhi girl was recently untraceable for more than 24 hours. “Two days before our show went on air, I went partying with my friends. I didn’t realise that night that I had misplaced my phone. My parents got worried and had called my friends as well as the producers of Laut Aao Trisha. The producers told me, ‘Nalini, apne character mein itna mat ghuso, laut aao,’” smiled the Splitsvilla 2 contestant, who was also in Calcutta to talk about the show.

Shweta Keshri
Pictures: Pabitra Das