Prosenjit-Arpita before a shot

It was a fairytale moment when Prosenjit crowned Arpita the winner of a beauty contest for a sequence in Neel Mukherjee’s Satti Holeo Galpo.

The husband-wife duo had last faced the camera together nine years back in Deva, where they played a very-much-in-love couple. Wednesday afternoon found the star hubby playing a judge at a contest where his actress wife was one of the participants.

“Yes, indeed Arpita and I are shooting for a film after a long time,” smiled Prosenjit, after a shot at a studio in Pailan. “But this is hardly like working together. I am doing just a special appearance as Prosenjit Chatterjee in the film.”

While Prosenjit was nostalgic about their days as a hit pair in films like Pratibaad, Arpita was taking a trip down a different memory lane. “More than acting with Bumbada, I am remembering my first day of walking the ramp and winning the Sananda Tilottama title. It was in 1997. I am like reliving those moments again!” laughed Arpita, who plays Rani Mukherjee, a girl from the suburbs with big dreams.

“Rani is very close to my heart and I could totally relate to what she said after her win... that she’s a simple middle-class girl. I too come from a very middle-class family and I never thought I would come this far!” she added.

But what about a full-fledged film role opposite her hubby? “Well, there were talks of a film— Anandamath — starring the two of us together. We really liked the script but the film didn’t start due to some problems.... I have done enough naacha-gaana with Bumbada. Now I am keen on working with this ‘different’ Bumbada, the serious Bumbada,” said Arpita.

Prosenjit too looks forward to working with his wife again. “We’ve given so many hits together and Arpita is a very mature actress. I really want to work with her. She was brilliant in Laboratory.... But, of course, my role would be of prime importance to me. (Laughs.) And I think Arpita looks good with Jisshu (Sengupta), Parambrata (Chattopadhyay) and even Indraneil (Sengupta)!” he chuckled.

While Parambrata was on stage playing the anchor, Arpita’s Satti Holeo Galpo co-star Jisshu was catching the action as a member of the audience along with the film’s scriptwriter Rudranil Ghosh and Kanchan Mallick. Onstage, Prosenjit had Sreelekha Mitra and Agnimitra Paul as co-judges.