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MOON MOON SEN

Glamorous intentions

Looking at her you wouldn’t believe that she has two grown up daughters making their own mark in films. Even today Moon Moon Sen can give younger contenders a run for their money in the glam-battle. No wonder she has been cast in Neeyat as a well-heeled socialite.

When we heard that Moon Moon Sen was in town to work in a serial we weren’t really excited about meeting her. She has been around for a long time and basked in her share of fame and glory. Now, it was her daughters’ turn to hog the limelight, and how! The elder daughter Raima has just completed her first Bengali film, besides already appearing in music videos and commercials. Younger Riya is causing a sensation with her music video Yaad piya ki aane lagi, a Bangladeshi film and a Tamil film. She is also on the verge of making her Hindi film debut soon.

And yet, when we did meet the elder Ms. Sen, one look at her was enough to drive away our blues. Bereft of make-up, Ms. Sen looked radiant and glowing. Her slightly plump figure draped in a flowing, eye-catching kaftan, Moon Moon looked like she had hoodwinked Time into standing still. There were no immediately discernable effects age o her face, and she could easily have given a younger woman a run for her money. Is it any wonder then that the makers of Neeyat, the serial in which she’s set to make an appearance after a long hiatus (15 years to be precise), have roped her to play a socialite?

“The character is based on the life of a very well-known Mumbai socialite,” Sen says laughingly. Does she know who it is? “Of course,” but she’s not telling. She’s also doing another serial Ardhangini, in which she’s co-starring with Sonu Walia. What about films, we query? “I am doing quickie small-budget films which have well-known character artistes like Kiran Kumar in it. I have just completed one such film, Bechaini,” she informs.

No, she doesn’t have any qualms in being a part of these films because she insists they have their own market. “I was told that in Mumbai all films have an audience but you’ll never find me in a horror film,” she avers. Must say that the sexy actress is very enterprising. She’s done serials and films in 20 languages including Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, Manipuri and Sindhi. “I have no problems speaking the language because I am given cue cards plus I listen to others speaking, understand the meaning and go on,” she says matter-of-factly.

Till a year ago, Moon Moon was an active participant in Bengali jatras. Prey, what’s a jatra? “It’s a popular folk theatre of Bengal. They are a little similar to the lavni tamashas you have in Maharashtra. They are mainly performed during the harvest season. A troupe of performers tour the villages and perform plays in the open,” she explains. According to her, folk theatre is giving Bengali films a run for their money and commercial theatre has been totally wiped out. “A jatra can make between one to five lakhs a night and the audience can be anywhere in the range of 500 to 20,000,” informs Moon Moon. After being involved with it for three “strenuous” years, the actress has taken a break and given way to other actresses like Sudha Chandran and Varsha Usgaonkar, the latest to join the jatra bandwagon.

Moon Moon, in the meantime, is busy doing a Bengali film based on a Marathi novel and film Tu Tithe Mee and a few “quick” films in Hindi. Jetsetting between Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai, where her daughter is shooting, Moon Moon is completely tied up in shaping her daughters’ career besides managing her own. “I am not the kind to go on the sets, but yes, I do look after their hair and make-up,” she points out.

Is she happy with the way her career’s shaped up? “I have no regrets, I did films in all languages and got to travel all over India and abroad. I did lose out on some films because of my touring but the kind of places I saw and friends I have made all over, more than make up for it,” she philosophises. Not surprisingly, even her daughters are following in her footsteps. Of course, Moon Moon is very particular that they don’t commit the mistakes she did early on in her career. But even today Moon Moon is charming enough to give some of the new breed of heroines a tough competition.