Sitting pretty: Sayantani Ghosh

Look who’s dancing to Beedi, Kajra re and Khallas on screen this year — our very own Sayantani Ghosh! The girl who entered drawing rooms across the country with STAR Plus’s Kumkum Ek Pyaara Sa Bandhan will be playing the lead in Sahara One’s new venture for the weekday 10 pm slot, Ghar — Ek Sapna.

“Ajaiji (Sinha, the director) has given the serial a very filmi look. So there is a lot of dancing in the opening sequence,” says Sayantani, set to be introduced as Kakul on December 15. Kakul comes from a political strongman’s family in Bihar. The story takes off with her friend’s wedding. So all the singing and dancing. “I am dancing to as many as six songs myself,” the Bharatanatyam student says. “And by the seventh episode, I get married.”

That is, in fact, the violent twist in the tale. A man from Mumbai who flirted with Kakul during the wedding and offended the men in her family is forced to marry her at gunpoint. “Such things happen, don’t they?” stresses Sayantani, back in home in between a hectic schedule. “We are putting in mad hours — 16 to 17 a day. In Calcutta, 10-11 hours are maximum.”

But Sayantani is hardly complaining. A second runner-up at Sananda Tilottama 2003, Sayantani has always dreamt big. Which is why she took part in Zee TV’s Item Bomb contest even when she was set to debut in Tollywood, opposite Prosenjit, no less. After sealing her place here with lead roles in Raju Uncle and Nayak, she decided to go west, and fast. “I do not want to struggle in Mumbai at Rituparna’s (Sengupta) age,” remarks the 22-year-old.

The wait for Ghar — Ek Sapna has been worth it. “The three-four months before that were trying. I had walked out of Kumkum as my role did not shape up the way I was promised. I suppose they have their TRP-related compulsions but it did not make sense to leave lead roles in Bengal to play second fiddle on television. The offers after that were not satisfactory, but I decided to stick on in Mumbai.”

Sayantani was selected for the role of “a dusky girl” by Ajai Sinha, the man behind Astitva and Hasratein whom she had contacted with her profile. This time, Hindi dialogues are no longer a problem for the girl from Behala. “When I started with Kumkum, I needed training but there was no time. My grammar was all over the place. So I used to mug up my lines as best as I could. Today, I am confident enough to improvise and add a word or two!”

What about Tollywood? “I am still shooting for Sujitda’s (Guha) film with Bumbada (Prosenjit) and Swastika. It’s called Sangharsha.”

This is one Bengali babe not afraid to battle it out, at home or away.