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| Sreelekha and Radhika at The Wall. Pictures: Pabitra Das |
I am very hungry! Though I’m on a diet I really want to eat a lot of sushi, chicken and some grilled vegetables,” smiled Sreelekha Mitra before settling down for a t2 chat at The Wall. Antaheen girl Radhika Apte, her co-star in Pendulum (directed by Soukarya Ghoshal, releases on March 7) is running high fever and has a blocked nose. “Some hot chicken soup with lemon and coriander for me please,” she said. As the piping hot food arrives, the discussion veers from chicken soup to men, marriage and relationships outside wedlock...
Sreelekha to Radhika: They will click and ask questions while we eat so we won’t be able to enjoy our food!
Radhika makes a sad face.
Sreelekha: So we will pose while we eat.
Radhika looks startled.
t2: What do the two of you play in Pendulum?
Sreelekha: Well I can’t say much except that I play a professor, she is married and is a lovable wife but the relationship between her and her husband (Anindya Pulak Dutta) isn’t defined. That grey area is there. They don’t seem to be in a very happy marriage.
Radhika: I play an independent, urban and upright woman who is working in an ad agency, lives by herself, alone. She starts a relationship with a younger guy (Samadarshi). There’s also another guy who is stalking her but she seems to be okay with that. I mean she doesn’t mind being stalked. There are four stories and each is linked to the other because of an accident that takes place.
So the film is about undefined relationships. Personally what’s your stand on such relationships?
S: I’m not game for such relationships!
R: Oh, I’m completely in for such relationships! (Laughs)
S: Completely not. I don’t like mystery in real life. I’ve had too much mystery. I want a plain, simple, relationship. I mean very defined and committed, no layering. I don’t want to excavate newer avenues. I have had enough! I am a very boring person and I live in a complete black-and-white world!
R: I just have a different opinion about it. I really like it when it’s not defined according to the society. I hate going by the society. I’ve never ever stuck to any rules or ever thought of what society will think about me doing something so I’m least bothered about what people think...I do what pleases me. I think no relationship is defined, I mean no matter how hard society tries to define relationships, any relationship in anybody’s life is so multi-layered and I really like to explore that.
t2: But you just got married which means you sort of believe in a defined relationship...
R: Yes, but we were living together for three years but our border rules, our country and England, are so pathetic that we had to get married in order to live together [Radhika’s husband Benedict Taylor lives in England]. We were very happy just living together though. The whole idea is to be together. It’s not possible without a visa to visit him for more than a week. So we got married. We had a registry marriage and that’s it.
Sreelekha takes out a roti from her tiffin box quietly! “Roti?!” exclaimed Radhika. “Yes! my new diet. Black and white you see!” said Sreelekha.
S: I too don’t bother about what society says but you have to live in a society and you have to abide by some rules because I’ve got my parents. I want to have a peaceful life for myself.
t2: What’s the wildest thing you’ve done while in a relationship?
R: Lots! Loads! I’ve had so many relationships and they have been wild and lovely but it’s such a personal thing that I wouldn’t like to share.
S: I’ve had wild relationships during my college days.
t2: Radhika, you’ve been coming to Calcutta for the last four years since Antaheen. What are the changes you’ve seen in the city?
R: As actors we go to so many places so if you like travelling it’s great. I love exploring new cultures...
S: Well, you don’t like Calcutta’s mishti doi and rosogolla (the cliched line of all Bombay stars)?
R: It is cliched but I love rosogolla! You know, initially I quite liked the laid-back culture, very relaxed...
S: Yes, we are very laid-back. We love long addas and afternoon siestas...
R: I used to like that but I keep fluctuating between whether I really like it or not. I am getting to know the people here more.
S: (Turns to Radhika) And you have a very Bengali face, your eyes specially...
t2: Radhika, your character in Pendulum is in a relationship with a guy younger to her. In real life could you fall for a man younger to you?
S: Caste no bar, age no bar, sex bar bar! (Laughs out loud)
R: I have no objections to any relationship.
t2: Sreelekha, you mostly play a wife in films while Radhika, you play the young urban girl. Do directors cast you as you in most films?
S: Do they know us so well? I don’t think so. I am a very private person...I think they get an idea seeing us, the way we behave... but I love playing complicated characters.
R: I feel so revived after eating (after polishing off the soup, and some chicken and fish starters)! I’ve done a lot of films where I’ve played a village girl, not Bengali films though. It’s about perceptions. I don’t think any of these people know us at all. I am sure most people offer us roles according to their image of us. That’s very sad. That’s where typecasting starts. I remember I was smoking in between a shot on the sets of a film I don’t want to name and the director said, ‘Oh my god I thought you were a good girl’! I was so mad... We are actors and we want to explore things that we’ve not done before. Typecasting is the worst thing that can happen to an actor. But people don’t see that.
(Dips the sushi in wasabi sauce) I love food! Oriental, Southeast Asian, English...
S: But you don’t look like you are a foodie!
R: You want to check my bag? You will find at least five to six chocolates! I compensate, like one day I eat and the next day I diet.
t2: A recent film you watched and felt you could have done it better...
R: Lots! But can’t say nah!
S: Yes, it happens with me many times too. I wish I could play Vidya Balan’s role in The Dirty Picture. I feel if ever The Dirty Picture is made in Bengali, no one except me can play the role!
t2: Radhika, you come across as very carefree...
R: Yes, I am. But it has its own disadvantages also, but yes I still don’t believe in planning, I just do what I feel like doing right now, which has not helped me a lot in my career!
S: What’s your zodiac sign?
R: Virgo.
(Sreelekha does a high-five with Radhika)
R: Oh you are a Virgo too?
S: Yes. I am the same. I don’t plan. We are rebels in our own way. We don’t want to be prototypes. We are exceptions.
t2: So Virgo women are not very ambitious?
R: No, I have suddenly become very ambitious! (Laughs) Since I’ve come back from London I have become so ambitious and I really wanna crack it.
S: To crack it, the luck factor is very important. That’s the reason filmstars are so superstitious.
R: I feel more than actors, actresses are very insecure because it’s a highly competitive profession and it’s not art, cinema is business.
t2: Does that bog you down sometimes?
S: Of course.
R: Yes it does. You just have to face it. You can’t be blind and say oh my god why is it like this. It is like this.
