Sushmita Sen with Mithun Chakraborty and Anuj Sawhney in moments from ChingaariKallpana G. Lajmi

Why have you changed the spelling of your name?

I am so fed up with failure that I thought I would do some numerology and I might be a super success like your Rituparno Ghosh (laughs).

So, what prompted you to make Chingaari?

See, I have 18 to 20 subjects lying with me, which have been mostly written by me or Dada (Bhupen Hazarika) or some other famous author. Now, for off-mainstream film-makers like me, we have to keep peddling our subjects to stars. It?s one long-drawn process and it?s very, very exhausting. Dada had written a short story called The Postman and the Prostitute which Sushmita (Sen) liked one Sunday afternoon. So, we were on, and that has now become Chingaari.

What made you approach Sushmita for the role of the prostitute Basanti?

Four years ago, I had offered a film called Sinhasan to Sushmita. It was a two-heroine subject, and I had Sushmita and Aishwarya in mind for the two roles. But she turned it down then. Now, I have always wanted to work with her. She does just three films a year and she?s always so inaccessible. So, I kept thinking what I could offer her and I finally landed up with this story of a prostitute. Luckily, she agreed to do the film.

Why do you think Sushmita agreed to do the film?

Because she liked the script. I don?t think she knew who I am or what films I have made. I don?t think she still knows. But popular stars like her should use their power to better the society by doing films like Chingaari. If Sushmita asks people to take a polio injection, people will. If I say, they won?t.

So, what is so special about the Chingaari script?

It?s a story of unrequited love between a prostitute and a postman. In Dada?s original story, it is set in the Assam-Bhutan border. I didn?t place my story there because of logistics problem and also the fact that I have explored the North-East in detail in three of my films ? Ek Pal, Lohit Kinare and Daman.

I found some of the places in Maharashtra very similar ? in terms of trees, fields and home structure ? to the rural regions of Bihar-UP, a place which has been facing humiliation and mutilation since time immemorial.

I added the character of a priest to the story ? Bhuvan Panda ? who goes to the temple in the day and visits the prostitute in the night. It?s the story of these three characters ? the prostitute, the priest and the postman.

Has Sushmita lived up to your expectations?

I don?t want to sound arrogant but I believe Sushmita has risen beyond the script and come up with a brilliant performance. Her portrayal of Basanti is at par with Meena Kumari in Saheb, Biwi Aur Ghulam, Nargis in Mother India and Shabana Azmi in Ankur. We hardly knew each other when we started shooting for the film but our approaches were so similar. Something happened beyond the natural. You may laugh, but I believe it is due to Kali Ma that the two of us connected so well. I am sure you are going to take Basanti home with you.

How will you compare her performance in Chingaari to that of Dimple Kapadia in Rudaali?

It?s quite amazing that both Dimple and Sushmita felt very exhausted after Rudaali and Chingaari. Sushmita has been telling everyone how emotionally drained she felt after the shooting got over. I remember Dimple telling me: ?I hate you. You have exhausted me. You have aged me.? I believe that both Sushmita and Dimple may not have the craft but they are great intuitive actors.

You are giving Mithun Chakraborty another shot at a Bollywood comeback?

He is just brilliant as the priest who loves Basanti as a woman but hates her as a whore. Again, when she is in love with another man, the jealousy in him becomes unbearable something he can?t express to the villagers. Mithunda has been able to bring out this dichotomy of the character beautifully.

The controversy around the kissing sequence between Anuj Sawhney and Sushmita must have been a big setback for you?

The whole funda with these young actors these days is that if you have a sexual or sensual link with any top heroine, your value goes five notches up. Anuj went to town with a working still of the film describing how he had to give 38 retakes for a smooching scene with Sushmita. It was loose, cheap and sleazy and made the director sound like a pervert. There is no such scene in the film. Sushmita thought it was a cheap publicity stunt by the producer and decided not to promote the film.

I went to all TV channels and apologised myself. It may have happened behind my back but it?s a fact that I wasn?t in control of the situation. The film industry wasn?t too happy that I apologised. I may not be a well-to-do director but I am respected a lot. Sushmita herself felt embarrassed. She is now promoting the film.

But Anuj was not your first choice...

He was never my first choice and despite the eight-month workshop I did with him, let me tell you, his performance has no magic. Everyone refused to do the film because the machismo synonymous with a hero was not there in the role. And this is not the first time that the so-called stars have turned down my film. I had to cast Sanjay Suri opposite Raveena in Daman. When Saif refused to do Kyon? I had to take Rahul Dev. Even Shah Rukh had backed out at the very last moment and Arif Zakaria was taken in for Darmiyaan.

Kallpana G. Lajmi

Do you feel sad that despite such work behind you, stars are not ready to work with you?

The stars these days don?t know how to decide on a good script or choose a progressive character. They keep doing formula rubbish for big money. What they don?t realise is that by doing those films, they age in three years. And faded stars cannot raise money.

Not just me, even an Aparna Sen has to wait for four years to make a film. The situation is the same for a giant like Rinadi or an ant like me. My uncle Guru Dutt had gone through the same suffering. He got his due recognition 40 years after his death. It?s no use being eulogised and garlanded after you are dead.

What are you planning next?

There are two scripts I am working on. There?s a charming magical fable called Fatso, where a fat person falls in love with a beauty queen. It?s inspired by my own story ? I have been fat all my life and have liked men who are beyond my reach (laughs). Then there?s another script called Devdasi, written by a half-Bengali, Patrick Biswas, which I am planning with Rekha and Priyanka Chopra. But the way Priyanka?s rates are going higher and higher every time I approach her, there may not be money left to make the film.