Known for her natural acting abilities and good looks, Chaiti Ghoshal is always experimenting, be it with her acting or with her directions. Always ready to push boundaries and move out of her comfort zone, the Bengali actor is now reaping the benefits of her hard labour.
The success of her directorial debut, Rakta Karabi (Red Oleander) is an example. She says it is the blessings of her audience, who are thronging the auditoriums.
Offbeat Theater is offering an acting workshop, In Search of The Actor, this month. Designed by Chaiti Ghoshal and her son, Amartya, this workshop is for beginners, intermediates and professionals who want to re-orient themselves.
Going back to the days when she first started acting on stage, Chaiti said, “I have been doing it since I was 15 or 16 years old, when I was cast by the legendary Tripti Mitra. I played Nandini in Rakta Karabi, which was appreciated by the legends, Santosh Kumar Ghosh and Tripti Mitra. I must have been in Class IX then. I was very young and group theatre was undergoing a transition. It was a lot more rigid from what it is now.”
But, in an abrupt move, the actress left acting to pursue family life. “I left the stage as a lot of things had clouded my mind then. Later, I again came back to play Nandini, when it was being directed by Goutam Halder, produced by Purba Paschim. That was, I think, one of the most successful phases of my time as Nandini. After Goutam da’s death, I had the urge to play Nandini my own way. I feel Tagore’s Rakta Karabi transcends time. It is like Shakespearean plays. It can be interpreted in many ways,” said Chaiti.
The theatre and celluloid actress says characters of Rakta Karabi can be identified with real-life characters even today. World geopolitics is changing fast. Wars are breaking out frequently. In the name of religion, people are being killed…Rakta Karabi encompasses all this. This stirred her within to tweak the play’s narrative her own way, keeping the essence alright. “What is happening around bothers me. I have taken the creative freedom to interpret the scenes my own way,” she said.
Explaining her innovations, she said: “I have not changed the dialogues but have tweaked a scene, where there is a procession with soundscape and dance. Earlier, the characters would utter the dialogues, but I have used sounds in the scene and the dialogues are spoken in the background. Just like the drones of today can come from anywhere and attack us, these dialogues can originate from anywhere, we are unsure of its origin. My Rakta Karabi is a concept, Nandini is a concept. I feel there should also be gender fluidity. Why can’t Nandini, who stands for truth against exploitation and love, be played by a man.”
The actor, who has dabbled in all formats – films, television and theatre – says she is indebted to the audience. “Without their blessings, I could not have been what I’m today. When you do not have many friends in the industry, the audience has been my strength which has kept me going, their appreciation has been my foundation,” said Chaiti. Counting her initial TV appearance in Ek Akasher Niche as a success, she says she has proved her worth as an actor and also with her looks. “But for reasons best known to others, certain roles where I could have done justice have not come to me. My biggest regret is not working with the late Rituparno Ghosh,” she added with a tinge of melancholy in her voice.
A veteran, Chaiti is happy that her son Amartya is back to Kolkata and is working with her. “After his FTII, he has already worked in Maidan with Ajay Devgn. It is a surprise that he has come back and not shifted base to Mumbai. Amartya is assisting me in Rakta Karabi and we plan to do some more interesting theatres in the days to come,” added the actor.
Not content with the success of her debut as a director in theatres, Chaiti is now directing her debut Bengali film, Never Mind. The story and script are by Samrat and Amartya, and produced by Bhavna Aaj o Kal. Rituparna Sengupta is playing the lead, with music by Rupam Islam.
Her next release will be Hema Malini, which she calls an “interesting” venture.
Someone, who is not content with what she has, Chaiti now itches to go back to the television as she thinks the audience loves watching serials in Bengal.