Within Bengali cinema, you have always worked with the best directors - Rituparno Ghosh, Aparna Sen and Anjan Dutta. Is Natobar Not Out a departure from your usual oeuvre?
Yes, and no. Yes, because this is a film that has all the ingredients of a mainstream film but is serious and significant. No, because I have not always worked with best directors. I have worked with new directors and comparatively recent filmmakers like Aniruddha Roy Choudhury in Anuranan. Anjan Dutta’s The Bong Connection was also along similar lines, director-wise. The same goes for Sandip Ray’s Nishi Japon where I was cast opposite Parambrato Chatterjee and had veteran actors like Soumitra Chatterjee and Sabyasachi Chakraborty with me.
What made you accept a role in a film dominated and even titled after the hero, Natobar …?
For me, it was a conscious decision. I have this instinct of catching on to a film with my first sitting with any director. I can grasp what exactly he expects of me. I liked the story, screenplay and dialogues of Natobar … when director Amit Roy narrated it to me. If the role is significant, I do not mind the footage Natobar …may focus on the hero, but Mishtu is no less important in the journey he makes from point A to point B.
Isn’t Mishtu the character you are playing in this film?
Mishtu is Natobar’s love interest in the film. Natobar is constantly changing as he meets people along his journey from one point to another. For him, the journey is physical and metaphorical. Through my encounters with him, I evolve from being a naïve, bubbly and talkative young girl to a wise and mature woman, who lends stability to Natobar’s life lived in a kind of constant flux. This is a film that takes a light-hearted look at the serious side of life. I am the only character with a serious tone and no humour. I am enjoying working with Amit Sen. He has given me a simple, Bengali-girl look that I liked very much.
Mustafa Prakash, who is playing Natobar, is a new actor from Bangladesh. This is his first film. So, the director wanted us to go through a short workshop before we faced the camera. It was primarily to break the ice between Mustafa and me. It is a film where our relationship goes through several twists and turns and we needed some warming up. The workshop made it easy.
Your resemblance to your grandmother Suchitra Sen is more than your resemblance to your mother Moon Moon. How do you feel when people point this out to you?
I feel great. I feel honoured to be so compared. I do not feel pressurised when people tend to compare my acting style with hers either because everything about acting has changed from the time when she ruled Bengali cinema. It has changed across the world. Bengali cinema is no different. Each director expects something different from a given actor for a role in a given film. We mould ourselves according to their expectations. She was a great actress in her time. I am very proud about being her granddaughter. She would give me tips on acting when I began with Moyna, a Bengali film. But I resemble my mother a lot too.
What kind of actress would you call yourself?
I am a director’s actress. My work shows excellent results with good directors be it in Kolkata or in Mumbai. I work well if there is a good director, who knows how to draw the best out of me.
What are your current assignments in Mumbai and Kolkata?
In Mumbai, I am doing Mirch with Shahana Goswami and Konkona Sen Sharma by Vinay Shukla, who directed my first film Godmother.
I have accepted a guest appearance in Leena Yadav’s Teen Patti wherein I play Madhavan’s girlfriend. In English, I am waiting for the release of The Japanese Wife. In Bengali, there is also Naukadubi based on a Tagore novel directed by Rituparno Ghosh and an important role in Koushik Ganguly’s Aar Ekti Premer Galpo. I am expected to sign some more films this year. I am also expecting to begin work on France-based Siddhartha Roy’s forthcoming film but the contract is yet to be signed.
In terms of choice, which films of yours are your personal favourites?
I have enjoyed all my films, yet Chokher Bali is my favourite. I also cherish Nishi Japon. Honeymoon Travels Pvt Limited was a scream and we had lots of fun. I enjoyed Parineeta though the role was not so big and Rituparno Ghosh’s Khela is another favourite. Every film has given me the opportunity to be different and that is what makes all of them so special for me.
