It was one of those delightful February afternoons when the sun was mellow, and the lakeside seemed tailor-made for a leisurely post-lunch stroll. Rituparna Sengupta, whose life is a constant whirlwind between cities, happened to be in Calcutta. So was Shayan Munshi, her co-star from the upcoming film Rekha. An invitation for an afternoon adda soon turned into an engaging conversation over a lavish Bengali lunch, with the duo opening up about their first film together.

What followed was entirely unplanned yet perfectly in character for Rituparna. After the feast and freewheeling conversation came an impromptu photoshoot by the Rabindra Sarobar. The spontaneous proposal hardly caught us off guard — after all, surprises are often part and parcel of any rendezvous with her.

As for the wardrobe, Rituparna dipped into her untouched shopping bags filled with recent finds from her international travels, while Shayan improvised with effortless flair, layering pieces he had arrived in and a few extras from his car boot. The result was a stylish, relaxed shoot that captured their easy camaraderie long before they stepped onto the sets of Rekha last month.

Directed by Anup Das, Rekha marks the filmmaker’s third feature and shines a light on a pressing social reality. The film follows Rekha Bhattacharya, an elderly north Calcutta resident who finds herself at odds with real-estate developers threatening her home and way of life. Veteran actor Mamata Shankar essays the titular role, portraying a woman who turns to social media to amplify her voice and fight injustice.

In a departure from their glamorous public personas, Rituparna and Shayan take on rooted, everyday characters in the film. Rituparna plays Buli, a househelp, while Shayan essays a taxi driver. Yet for our exclusive shoot, the duo traded their de-glam avatars for high style and effortless elegance. The frames carried an unmistakably romantic undertone, though neither actor was willing to reveal whether that chemistry extends to the screen. “Let’s keep that for the theatres,” they laughed, leaving us with just enough mystery to keep the anticipation alive. As the duo recently wrapped the shoot of the film, we look back at our exclusive pre-release photoshoot with them.
Hair and make-up: Biplab Mondal (Jhinty)