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You vanished after the TV serial Ekhane Aakash Neel ended and resurfaced with Takhan Teish. What were you doing all this while?
It’s not that I didn’t work after Ekhane Aakash Neel. I did Atanu Ghosh’s Takhan Teish, Pradipto Bhattacharya’s Bakita Byaktigato, Anjan Dutt’s Darjeeling Darjeeling and Riingo’s Ghuri. Only people didn’t see me enough on screen. It’s just that at one point of time I didn’t feel like working every day. I will get back to work with Atanu Ghosh’s next film opposite Parambrata (Chattopadhyay). I am still in that holiday mood but I am also feeling rejuvenated.
You play a Facebook addict in Takhan Teish but you are not on Facebook yourself...
I have absolutely no interest in computers or social networking sites. You can say I am computer illiterate (laughs). I have no problems with people who love to be online always, but I can’t understand why I should write about myself all the time. I like to keep to myself.
How was Jisshu Sengupta as a co-star?
Takhan Teish is my first film with Jisshu. He is a funny kind of a person, very naughty... a kid actually. He would make Bholada (his Man Friday) play Oriya and Telugu songs (hums a line) and insist that it was very relaxing (laughs). He would also dance to entertain us.
You’re looking cool with the cropped hair in Takhan Teish (picture right). Whose idea was it?
The credit goes to two people — Aniruddha Chakladar (the stylist for the film) and Suchandradi (Chaudhuri, the look designer). They did everything to convince Atanuda. I am so much in love with this hairstyle that I am tempted to chop my hair! But no, actually I can’t, because of my film commitment.
With a few films coming up, are you planning to quit TV?
There’s nothing for TV as of now.... Just going on working has never been my aim. I had begun to feel that I was losing out on life, doing the same ‘three steps back... foreground... background’. I needed space in my life where I could sit back and just think, may be think crap! I am not much of a careerist, you see. There’s so much more to life — say, watching a good movie.
What made you say yes to Atanu’s next film Abby Sen-er Ajob Duniya?
The Takhan Teish experience was immensely good! The best part of working with Atanuda is his script. If you read his script you’ll know what I’m saying. You can visualise a character simply by reading the script. How a character walks, talks, laughs, what kind of a human being he or she is... every detail is there. Of all the characters in Takhan Teish, my character, Sriparna, is my favourite.
Tell us about Abby Sen-er Ajob Duniya...
It’s about a man called Abby played by Parambrata, who timetravels from 2010 to 1980. I play a young singer in the ’80s. She is extremely outspoken yet vulnerable at the same time. Param falls in love with Parama in 1980 but cannot commit since he is a married man in 2010. This is a very interesting romantic comedy.... In Bengali we did have excellent films like Ashitey Ashiona and Subarno Golok, which had this fantasy element. Calcutta has changed so much in the last 30 years and I am interested in knowing how Atanuda is going to make the city look like when there was no Metro, no South City Mall...
You’ll work with Parambrata again after Chalo Let’s Go...
It’s great to be working with Param again. I somehow feel that we have the same kind of acting pattern and the same wavelength, as far as work is concerned. So, yes, it’ll be fun working with him again.
Abby Sen-er Ajob Duniya will be your first comedy film. Is it challenging for you?
I always insist that I’m completely a director’s actor. I’ll depend on Atanuda to guide me. He believes in me and I trust him. God bless us! I did a few telefilms with him that were comedies.... Life in the ’80s is different and yet not so different from life today. So the challenge would be to show the difference while remaining natural. I love how reality and fantasy blend in this film.
Many people loved your chemistry with Rrishii Kaushik on TV. What do think about your pairing with Jisshu or Parambrata?
Film is a director’s medium and this ‘chemistry’ is entirely a director’s vision. For both our mega serials (Ekhane Aakash Neel and Ekdin Pratidin), the director was Anindo Banerjee. It was he who created Ujaan-Hiya and Indra-Mohor. Yes, some X-factor is definitely there but it actually depends on how the director projects you. Given an opportunity, I would love to work with Rrishii again. But I feel that I have had chemistry with other actors as well. I didn’t look bad with Param in Chalo Let’s Go... (laughs). People might find me good opposite Jisshu too, though we are not a conventional couple in Takhan Teish.
