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 “I
guess I was destined to play the role of MAA in my life,” is
how she looks at her on-screen avatar - Ma Shakti. Indrani
Haldar, the Bengali beauty who has ruled the Bengali screen has
invaded the tube with the title role in the mythological serial
Ma Shakti, a Ravi Chopra production on Star Plus.
Born to a typical
Bengali family, Indrani has been acting since her adolescence. Indrani
won the National Award for “Best Actress” for her role
in Rituparno Ghosh’s Dahan. She has acted in more than 100
Bengali films and is a hot proposition for all Bengali directors.
She confesses, “My fans have loved me and today, though I have
achieved everything as an actress, I am still in search for good
roles. I am happy that my journey has been good throughout. Ma Shakti
is another extension and I am really happy to get the role. I am
here now in Mumbai and looking towards directors of repute like
Shyam Benegal, Mira Nair, Govind Nihalani, Aruna Raje, Mani Ratnam,
Santosh Sivan and others to work with.
“It was
producer Pahlaj Nihalani, who introduced Indrani Haldar to films
in Avishkar (in Bengali), directed by Sunil Dutta in 1989-90. Needless
to say, the film was a big hit and the performance she gave immediately
slotted Indrani as an actress, who was destined to hit big time.
Other directors followed. She candidly confesses, “I have been
very lucky because one role led me to another. Of course, I had
to work hard to give each character a new dimension. My fans have
been supportive and I am really thankful to all of them.” She
then worked with Buddhadeb Dasgupta in Charachar, which marked her
entry in parallel cinema. Greatly appreciated, she went on to act
in two more films with the director. When Rituparno Ghosh was making
tele-serial Fifty-Two Episodes, he couldn’t think of anyone
other than Indrani Haldar. She says, “It was the beginning
of the long relationship with the director. He’s just great.
A very straight-forward person, honest, daring and ambitious. He’s
so good in his work that he starts painting the characters to differentiate
each character in his film.” The serial was based on the TV
industry and “ I played the role of Aparna Sen in it. Indeed,
it was a challenging role, because I have always loved Aparna Sen,
as an actress.” Fortunate she is, for she got to act as her
idol. And when Aparna Sen saw her performance, she was floored,
so much that she offered Indrani a role in Paromitar Ek Din. The
film created an impact on Bengali cinema and Indrani recalls, “Initially,
I was awestruck by Aparna Sen. Today, we share a beautiful friendship.”
Indrani has
been selective right from the beginning. Each character that she
has portrayed so far has always fetched her adulation and appreciation
from critics as well as her fans. Her more recent hit is Gautam
Ghosh’s Dekha, where she plays a journalist. The film, which
was released in February 2001, is still doing roaring business all
over Bengal even today. She explains, “Dekha is one of the
biggest hits this year. The film breaks the mundane norms of parallel
and commercial cinemas. I like to work in such kind of films. Films
which give an artiste creative satisfaction and fans, the value
for their money. Honestly, I am here to work and I am glad my fans
have loved the movie.” Indrani Haldar is also famous for doing
the longest kissing scene in Rituparno Ghosh’s film and has
also done some semi-nude bedroom scenes. Ask how her fans have reacted
seeing her in such roles, she explains, “I can proudly say,
that my fans have always loved Indrani Haldar as an actress, irrespective
of all the kissing and hot scenes that I have enacted in various
films. When I am on screen I am an actress who has to listen to
her director. If I am not convinced about the scene, I question
the director and try to know exactly how the picturisation would
be done. Once I am convinced with my director’s view, I am
at ease and perform such scenes just like any another scene.”
She adds that she isn’t inhibited doing kissing scenes, because,
“ I trust in myself and I have to be convinced first by my
director. To be yourself on screen is the most difficult part and
tough for an actor.”
Presently,
Indrani is busy shooting for tele-serials Ma Shakti and Kudrat in
Mumbai. Her beautiful eyes speak about her contentment playing the
role of Ma, “Deep down I am so happy and full of bliss to play
the role of Ma Shakti, that I really don’t have words to explain
my feelings. It’s difficult yet challenging. I am portraying
nine different roles (the different avatars of Ma Shakti) in the
serial and for each character I have to be different. From make-up
(Indrani has done her own make-up) to my dialogue delivery, it’s
really very tough, but I am enjoying being pampered by the unit.”
She has also done all her stunts and the fight scenes in Ma Shakti
herself. Indrani adds, “Rajiv Desai, the director of Ma Shakti
has really helped me. He’s good and has really done good work
and you can see the serial if you don’t believe me.” Indrani
is also doing one short film with Star. Apart from these serials,
various directors have approached her. She says, “Negotiations
are on and I am spending almost half the month in Mumbai and the
rest in Kolkata to finish all the projects. I am really anxious
to work in Hindi films, provided I get roles of substance. I have
decided that I don’t wish to be typecast as a mythology character,
so Ma Shakti is going to be my only mythology project.”
About the difference
in cultures of Mumbai and Kolkata, she smiles, “In Kolkata,
the budget plays the main part. Everything is done on a shoe-string
budget. Value of money is given a lot of importance and so the directors
and actors do act accordingly. Everybody is professional to the
core and the end result is a great masterpiece. Here in Mumbai,
directors can take certain liberties and can go on shooting a particular
sequence because of huge budgets. The canvas is bigger. Work wise,
they are the same. Moreover, after acting for so many years one
gets used to all the difference in cultures. After all it’s
filmmaking and we are actors. It’s a creative field and one
has to be adaptable to be more creative.”
Back in her
hometown, Indrani Haldar is busy completing Shakti Samanta’s
Devdas (in Bengali). Prasanjit is playing Devdas while she’s
playing Chandramukhi. Apart from Devdas, she’s also doing a
few good films for the international festival market. The regional
filmmakers are always eyeing such a berth. That’s because,
she clarifies, “Regional filmmakers are basically a breed apart
from the commercial circuit. What they are looking is not money
as their remuneration. They are a creative lot who want to be recognised
worldwide for their creation. For them, creation is satisfaction
and appreciation is their reward. They make movies to be applauded
not otherwise.”
What’s
the most important thing a star should always remember? She concludes,
“It’s the responsibility of a star to not let down her
image before her fans. To be a star is easy but to retain the aura
is difficult. After all stars are human too!”
—Johnny
D
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