Rituparna Sengupta, a busy actress in town has always been juggling multiple projects together. Known for her enormous work, both commercial and offbeat, the actress makes it a point to explore new horizons even after three decades in the industry.

With two of her films released this week, The Statesman caught up with Rituparna Sengupta for a candid conversation.

Excerpts

Two of your films released this week, Mahishasur mardini and Prosenjit weds Rituparna. Shuttling between Singapore and Kolkata how you are looking up to this busy weekend?

I am always on a busy feet so this is nothing new to me. But yes, both the films have got different impacts on audience. Prosenjit weds Rituparna brings together two brands Prosenjit and Rituparna, the most talked about pair in Bengali cinema since past two decades. The other film Mahishasur mardini is a heart-aching story dealing with women emancipation and struggle on the backdrop of Durga Puja. So the difference in approaches is distinctly visible in both the films.

Mahishasur mardini deals with a sensitive issue. What was your perception towards the film?

Mahishasur mardini is the strength factor that destroys the peril of women. It is about demolishing the absolute atrocities. People worship forms of Shakti but even today women are not safe, they are subjected to heinous crimes. So at times we need to stand back and say that yes, we have to kill the demon. That’s what Mahishasur mardini implies. The Nirbhaya incident has inspired our director and the film is the only document that we can do right now and through the language of film we can actually take a stand and make a difference.

Earlier also we have seen you play several strong women characters. What acts as the driving factor?

See, my driving factor is definitely the relevance. If I see the character can make a change and if I strongly feel that the subject is needed to be addressed then I go forward with it. The subject of the film should have a certain value and the driving force has to be there. Other than that I obviously see being a protagonist how much can I explore as an actor and give something new to the audience. I believe here director’s view matters a lot like how he is looking into the subject and how is he taking me into a different space and presenting it to the audience.

What has been perhaps the most challenging part in playing the character?

Here I played the character of an astronaut who has come to spend a holiday with her folks. There’s a lot of silence in the character. She speaks very less and has got tremendous sense of responsibility and value. Her personality is so striking that it reflects in her body language as well. Her dressing style is also different. She carries saree with a full sleeves turtle-neck blouse. The personality has to speak about the character. Honestly speaking I have never met a lady astronaut in person but our director Ranjan has walked me through the details very meticulously so it came out smoothly.

The film has already garnered appreciation in several film festivals. After Aha Re people have high expectations from you and Ranjan. Will it live upto that?

With every film we try to set high expectations because we need to prove the audience that we are doing something better by the day. Surely this subject will have an impact on people. It’s on a sensitive issue and the way we have presented it, the camera movements, the setting, the colour palette, the story-telling everything is different from what we have done before. As per my imagination goes, this is an eerie mix of colours, characters, drama and emotions. You can say it’s a marriage between theatre and cinema and we have got a lot of things added here. A theatre platform has been used in the backdrop of the film and that’s again a new thing to watch out for.

How you manage to strike the balance between commercial and art films?

Commercial cinema has always been with me because I feel those films have made me what I am today. The name, fame, scope of performance and the love from people that these films brought to me, gave me the chance to work with more directors who have known me for my commercial films. So I always keep a nice balance between art and commercial films and there is a commercial element in every film. But yes, I try to do characters that people will remember me for.

To talk about Prosenjit weds Rituparna that too released this week, what will you say about the magical chemistry you share with Prosenjit Chatterjee?

This film has its own charm. Me and Bumba da (Prosenjit Chatterjee), our names have become a brand and it’s so surprising to see the craze of people around us even after more than two decades. Actually we can’t create this magic on our own, it’s the audience who created that and they still want to live in that era and watch this couple on screen together. I am very happy about this film and two young stars have worked in it, they were very enthusiastic about the project. The film has already created a lot of buzz, hope people will like it.

You also have lined up projects in Bollywood. What’s in the work front there?

Yes, I am working there for a while now and off and on I am travelling to Mumbai. I am really looking forward to Ittar directed by Veena Bakshi. It’s a beautifully etched out love story and I am pairing up with Deepak Tijori. Then I am working on Kal Tighori with Arbaz Khan, Mahesh Manjrekar, Aditya Shrivastava and Rajesh Sharma. This film is in the post production stage and is almost complete. Other films that are awaiting release are Bansuri with Anurag Kashyap, Jihad with Ronit Roy, Good Morning Sunshine with Revathi, Tere Aane Se by Purab Kohli and many more actually. Also, talks are on for some new projects so I am looking forward.