Konkona Sen Sharma and Sohag Sen on the sets of Karkat Rashi. Picture by Amit Datta

On a sultry Sunday afternoon, the noise of laughter and lazy chatter breaks the quiet of a lush farmhouse in Narendrapur. As a bunch of children giggle and roll over each other, a sprightly girl with cropped hair tries to keep them quiet. The setting is an orphanage and the girl in the midst of the action is Konkona Sen Sharma, who has snatched some precious time from her busy Bollywood schedule for a telefilm in Bengali.

Karkat Rashi, directed by stage veteran Sohag Sen, is about ?an ordinary college girl who turns out to be extremely courageous?. At another level, the story touches upon the lives and relationships of three women ? Konkona, her mother and her aunt ? but under ?certain circumstances?, says Sen, who has conceived the tale and written the screenplay.

?I needed a girl who had the capacity for fleeting expressions. So, Konkona was the obvious choice. But I wasn?t sure whether she would agree or have the time,? says Sen.

The telefilm features Suchita Roy Chowdhury and Alokananda Roy as Konkona?s mother and aunt. Plus, there?s Saswata Chatterjee in the role of a professor and ?something might or might not happen between him and Konkona?, says Sen, keeping the romantic angle under wraps.

Though it has been a decade since she directed a serial (Jaya Mitra?s Hanyaman) for Doordarshan, Sen seems quite at ease behind the camera. ?I have seen films being made since my childhood as I have grown up in a family involved with film-making. And also because I have been directing plays for a long time. But completing a telefilm by working six shifts for six days is something I am finding a bit difficult,? she admits, about the making of Karkat Rashi slated for the Shom Theke Shoni slot on Akash.

?I don?t have any problems in doing a telefilm if it?s done imaginatively,? says Konkona. ?And I also trust Sohag Sen a lot. I have seen her doing theatre for a long time. But it wasn?t just for her. I had read the script and liked it. At the core of the telefilm is my relationship with my mother and my aunt,? she adds.

Konkona?s weeklong break is from a film by Rajat Kapoor (who had made the critically acclaimed Raghu Romeo). ?It?s tentatively titled Mixed Doubles and it?s about two couples interacting with each other. It?s a Hindi-English comedy and Naseer (Naseeruddin Shah) is playing my father. He will shoot with us for a day,? she smiles. Konkona stars opposite VJ Ranvir Shourie in this film while Koel Purie and Rajat Kapoor make the other pair.

In end-May, there?s a double role in Rituparno Ghosh?s next film awaiting Konkona in Calcutta.