INDRANI HALDAR
Mumbai, here I come!
Indrani Haldar may have bagged many awards including the national, for her sterling portrayal of the righteous school teacher in Rituparna Ghosh’s Dahan, but her heart lies elsewhere. In the Bollywood mainstream, to be precise. At last, there’s light at tunnel’s end for Indrani Haldar: she’s about to finish her first Hindi film,
opposite Mithun Chakraborty...

For Indrani Haldar, her role in a forthcoming Hindi film is a dream come true. But that does not mean she is ruling out Bengali cinema. Certainly not. She has many films awaiting release, on the floors and about to begin. Almost all of them, except Gautam Ghose’s Dekha and Raja Mitra’s Ahankar are within the mainstream format. "I want to prove to everyone out there that I can sing and dance around trees as well as the others in Bollywood and Tollywood," said an excited Indrani on the set of her under-production film Book Bhara Bhalobasha directed by Sanat Dutta. A very ‘pregnant’ Indrani lay on a hospital bed, waiting to be taken to the labour room. The next shot saw her, flat-tummied, looking affectionately at the ‘son’ she has just delivered. She is cast opposite Arun Govil in the film with Ravi Shankar playing her son.

How did the Hindi film come about? "It was one of the most pleasant things to have happened to me. One early morning, I got a long distance call from Mithunda who asked me whether I was interested in doing a film he was producing and acting in. I was very drowsy and could not understand what he was talking about. So, he said, "Wake up porperly and I shall ring you back in 15 minutes." And he did. Of course, I accepted at once. Then, he put me in touch with director TLV Prasad and the deal was struck. Just like that! I still can’t believe it. The film is called Bhairav and Mithunda plays the title role. My character, Sonali, is a con-woman, somewhere along the lines of Sridevi in Chaalbaaz- the naughtier of the twins. Bhairav offers her shelter but she continues to con him. His friend cautions him about Sonali but he does not listen. Then, something dramatic happens to the girl and she changes completely. It is a very good role for a debut performance and I have no complaints whatsoever."

She adds that she has done two Hindi films before this but one was a telefilm and the other, a short for television.

"I did Hamari Shaadi several years ago for Basu Chatterjee. It was a very good film but no one noticed it because DD telecast it at all the wrong timeslots. A couple of years back, I did the role of Pavan Malhotra’s wife in Gautam Ghose’s short film Fakir. Pavan got the special jury award last year for his work in the film. But since it was never released, no one saw the film."

Asked about her role in Gautam Ghose’s new film Dekha, Indrani says at first she was hesitant about taking it up, because it was not the female lead. "Then Gautamda explained that the role of the heroine would not suit me in terms of my age. Then, he explained the character to me. Reema is a tongue-in-cheek, naughty journalist who arrives like a breath of fresh air to lighten the rather heavy ambience of the film’s main narrative. I wear jeans and a top or salwar-kameez and have several punchlines to deliver which are pithy and naughty. It’s a wonderful role and though I have only five scenes in the film, they’re very significant for me."

The three feature films ready for release are Apon Holo Pawr directed by Ratan Adhikari, Daybaddha directed by Subrata Lahiri and Ebong Tumi Aar Aami directed by Gautam Bose. Films right now on the floors are - Jeebon Pakhi directed by Rajat Das, Bor-Kone directed by Bablu Samaddar, Atltaayi directed by Sataroopa Sanyal and Chakravyuha directed by Raja Sen. She is excited about her role in Chakravyuha. "I play the sister of the hero Tapan who is sucked into a vortex of crime because though he is educated, he remains unemployed. I try to help him out of this trap, to change him for the better. When she fails, she leaves home and severs all links with him, marrying the boy she loves. It is a very strong role and I enjoyed doing it."

"I am like water, I assume the shape of whatever vessel I am poured into and that is why though I love to interpret my role, I am a director’s actress, first and last" says Indrani, defining her role as an actress. "I love to take suggestions and to interpret but all this under the guidance of the director. I consider Gautam Ghose to be the ideal director. He is precise in his direction, and plans everything down to the minutest detail."

Indrani is into teleserials in a big way, too. Among these, is a classic telefilm directed by Raja Sen called Purush. It is a story of a young girl, Hemantabala who was widowed when she was very young. "I play this character who grows to be an old woman of 80. This is the most difficult character I have ever played in my entire career. The character has many shades and a very long span in terms of time. I am sure Purbo Purush will mark a turning point in the hisotry of television serials in the country," says Indrani. "I had to deglamourise myself completely. I wore a cropped hair wig, cut off my manicured nails, drew in eyebrows to do away with the plucked-eyebrow effect, and did not wear a pinch of make-up on my face. We shot in the hot sun and I even got sunburnt."

She is also doing the main female lead in a daily afternoon soap called Bhool Thikana were she plays the complex role of Durga who becomes pregnant, runs away from home, lands up with a folk theatre group, becomes Aparna, the actress, runs away, gets beaten up by village folk and loses her memory. In Jeebon Rekha, she is a UK-returned surgeon who takes up practise in a hospital started by her father and run by her uncle. But she is too sensitive to pain and emotions and finds it difficult to cope with guilt resulting from the death of a patient. This too, is a good role. In both Jeebon Rekha and Bhool Thikana, she has to act with veteran Soumitra Chatterjee. Does’t acting with such a great performer make her self-conscious in any way? "Never. I am never overawed by any senior actor or director probably because I have performed on stage since I was little and I made my tele-debut in Tero Parbon while I was still in school. So, even Suchitra Mitra, who played my grandmother in Dahan and who is the greatest living exponent of Rabindra Sangeet today, did not make me nervous. She is noted for her fiery temper and her independence but to me, she appeared to be bubbling over with energy and stamina."

When asked to pick her favourite performance, Indrani ticks off on her fingertips, four films - Sataroopa Sanyal’s Anu, Rituparno Ghosh’s Dahan, Prabhat Roy’s Shet Patharer Tala and Sampradaan.

Shoma A Chatterji