Vasundhara Das at an awards function in the city on Sunday. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

The first thing that strikes you about actor-singer Vasundhara Das is her warm and friendly smile. In Calcutta on Sunday for an awards show, where she picked up the best singer award for Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Vasundhara impressed with her non-starry ways.

“The judges have been kind enough to select me for an award. So I am here to pick it up, and meet people. Maybe I’ll also form a few contacts… I don’t know very many people in Calcutta,” smiled Vasundhara.

In fact, the only person she claims to know in the city is Usha Uthup. “I keep meeting her at concerts. She is the only one I know from Calcutta!”

Calcutta call

“My last visit to the city was in 2005 to perform at St Xavier’s College. Somehow I have always had to really plan and push to come to Calcutta,” said Vasundhara. “But I would like to come here more often. Calcutta appreciates good music and I would like to explore the music scenario here.”

The light-eyed beauty revealed that she is open to offers for singing as well as acting in Bengali films. “I would love to work with Rituparno Ghosh and Aparna Sen,” she smiled. “I appreciate both their story-telling capabilities and the simplicity with which they present their films.”

Film front

For now, Vasundhara is excited about Kudiyon Ka Hai Zamana, a film where she shares screen space with Rekha, Mahima Chaudhary and Kim Sharma. Kudiyon Ka… is Vasundhara’s first Hindi release since Monsoon Wedding.

“I have been doing other things. I have been acting down south, I have been concentrating on my music career, there were many concerts…”

So, is Kudiyon Ka… based on the serial Sex And The City? “It’s about four women who have lots of money and lots of time. Three of them, including my character, are trying to get Mahima’s character married. It’s a fun film,” she shared.

If Kudiyon Ka… is a comedy, Vasundhara also has two serious films lined up. In Ek Dastak she plays an income-tax officer and Patthar Bezuban sees her in the role of a police officer. “Both these are very serious films, so I needed something light-hearted. I had real fun doing Kudiyon Ka… I got to interact with Rekha and we bonded very well because of our South Indian ties.”

Music mantra

Vasundhara made it clear that she was first a singer, and then an actress. “If I have to choose between a shoot and a concert, I will choose the concert,” she smiled.

The singer who has trained in classical music is open to all genres. “I am open to singing every kind of song. I guess it has to do with the kind of exposure one has had to other forms of music and how open-minded one is.”

Vasundhara, however, was quite tight-lipped about her forthcoming projects. “I am singing for Aamir Khan’s home production, but I am not comfortable talking about the others. You never know how it might turn out in playback, and I am quite superstitious,” she said softly.

With the likes of Vasundhara, one doesn’t even feel like pushing and prodding for more.