Raima Sen, Rituparno Ghosh and others on the Khela set in Chalsa. Pictures by Aranya Sen

Shooting by day, badminton by night, and playing pranks at the slightest chance. That?s more or less how Raima Sen spent her 11 days of confinement in the hills of north Bengal ? she?s not a nature person, she admits ? for Rituparno Ghosh?s Khela.

With Rituparno, Khela is her third project after Chokher Bali and the small-but-sensual role in Antarmahal. The pretty actress sure looked a lot composed on the sets of Chalsa. She is a little less in awe of her director and a little more confident of herself as an actress.

?I have become comfortable with Rituda now. I am not scared of him so much anymore, and I can easily follow what he wants from my character. So, this time I took this film rather lightly,? confesses Raima, who plays Anjali, an Ahmedabad-based costume designer, in the film.

The composure also has a lot to do with the fact that she gets to play someone like herself this time ? after playing Ashalata in Chokher Bali. ?Working in Khela was like whatever happens on our own shoots. Very lifelike. There was a camera behind Boombada (Prosenjit), who is a film director and he keeps giving me instructions. And I go around, up and down, getting the boy (Akashneel Dutta Mukherjee) ready. It was very funny in a way... But playing Ashalata the way I did would be difficult now. Because when you do a lot of films, you form your own opinions. I was completely raw and fresh during Chokher Bali and more eager to please the director. Now if I were to do Chokher Bali, it would be different,? says she, after a daylong shoot in the woods, red shawl wrapped around a black polo-neck.

In Bollywood, where her career is finally taking off (thanks to Ashalata, who fetched her Vidhu Vinod Chopra?s Parineeta), Raima has just finished shooting for Eklavya, a multi-starrer from the same camp. It?s a contemporary film set in Rajasthan where the women wear ghagras and Raima is cast as a mentally disturbed woman who behaves like an eight-year-old. ?Vidhu Vinod Chopra doesn?t want anything to be overdone. He gave me a pep talk on how I should behave and look. We did workshops and he asked me to see films like I Am Sam.?

Debutant director Vinny Mitra?s Meridian, featuring Konkona Sen Sharma, Irrfan, Abhay Deol and Arjun Rampal, has also got the elder daughter of Moon Moon Sen excited. ?It?s a film about the present and the past and has a 47-member cast. And I loved playing an actress of the 50s? black-and-white era,? she says.

Back home, Raima is looking forward to Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury?s Anuranon for the interesting role and an image makeover it offers (a 30-year-old with a big bun, bindi and glasses). Shooting takes up the entire month of December in Calcutta, and Raima is a little restless of staying rooted for so long.

?Now I like Mumbai more than Calcutta. All my friends are settled outside Calcutta and there?s nothing to do when I am here,? she grumbles. The only attraction, of course, is Dida. ?We chat about my films, what we did in Mumbai and what she?s been up to. She?s happy if we have lunch and dinner together. And she?s very happy when she can feed me,? says Suchitra Sen?s granddaughter.

Raima plays down any talk about her resemblance with Dida, insisting that her likeness is more with Mom. ?One or two directors in Bengal would tell me ?erokom bhabe takao, tahole dida dida mone habe?, which is very ridiculous. They will never get her back, no matter what I do? And I do what my instincts tell me. I get worse with every rehearsal,? she admits.

On the Bollywood screen, Raima rules out any sibling rivalry with younger sister Riya. Rather, they listen to each other and take each other?s advice. ?There are so many girls for competition, so why would we fight with each other? Riya takes me to the filmi parties and introduces me to people and I want her to do good Bengali films, maybe one with Rituda. We want each other to do well,? stresses Raima.

What she misses about Calcutta are aloo chaat and phuchka and partying with familiar faces. ?There, I bump into new people every time and you also have to be conscious if producers are watching you,? she says, having set her sights on good banners, good directors and interesting roles.

?I will go with the flow. I think I have come a long way from Godmother and Moyna (her first releases in Hindi and Bengali). I have done it all on my own. Our mom is not a filmi mom. She doesn?t help us to get films.?

What about plans of settling down? ?Not right now, maybe three or four years later... But no, I really don?t mind even now??

What she is sure of, though, is that she will do both Hindi and Bengali films. Despite the strain of shuttling between two homes and two workplaces.

?The money is good in Mumbai, but role-wise it?s more satisfying in Calcutta,? she smiles, before hitting the dewy court for a round of badminton.