The crafty mother (to Chandreyee Ghosh) in Zee Bangla’s Raat Bhor Brishti and the mysterious Muslim woman in Ravi Ojha’s Khela. The feisty lawyer in Krishnakali and the vicious housewife in Erao Shatru. And now, she is the dignified but dominating woman — with shades of Suchitra Sen in Aandhi — in Zee Bangla’s new mega Rajpath.

Moumita Gupta sure has a thing for experimenting with roles — and looks — even after 17 years in the industry and about 100 mega serials.

“I love to experiment and look different in all my roles. I know I can’t be a heroine and so I can only make a mark by looking different. Of course acting matters but TV is such a medium that we get typecast very easily. We are the regular faces on TV and if we look the same then the audience will be puzzled and wouldn’t even know which serial they are watching,” she reasons.

In Rajpath Moumita is Rama Sen, full of guile and gumption, entering a joint family as a secretary and going on to become the most powerful member of the household and the head of the family business.

She has given herself a strikingly different look: a salt-and-pepper wig, glasses and light silk saris. “I sat with make-up artiste Aniruddha Chaklader and discussed my look. Moloy has done my make-up while Ashish is doing the hair. Yes, I’m inspired by Suchitra Sen’s look in Aandhi,” says Moumita.

Any reservations about playing the older woman with negative shades? None whatsoever. “I am an actress and my versatility lies in how well I can portray my characters, whatever be the age. And I think negative characters have various layers. Rama Sen’s character has a lot of shades and it’s a very challenging role. Once I do my make-up I am Rama Sen both mentally and physically. In fact I have problems doing the flashback scenes where I play a younger Rama married to Shilajit,” she laughs.

Rajpath’s producer and scriptwriter Indranil Sen is bowled over by Moumita’s commitment and involvement. “When I was writing the script I had only Moumita in mind. She is a very confident actress and in Rajpath she plays a 55-year-old lady and a young woman of 38 in the flashback scenes. I knew that she could carry it off. And she is looking great in both.”

Rajpath airs every Monday to Saturday, 9pm, on Zee Bangla.