She not only has the looks but also the talent to blaze the screen with her presence. This year saw her as the fierce Nishi in Subhrajit Mitra’s Puja release Devi Chowdhurani, which earned her appreciation from all corners. That’s Bibriti Chatterjee for you. The spunky beauty, who never hesitates to speak her mind, debuted in 2018 with Byomkesh Gotro and since then, has strived to grow her oeuvre in a meaningful manner. We have a hearty chat with Bibriti on what keeps her going.
Your act in Devi Chowdhurani has been praised by the audience. How does it feel?
I am actually numb, to be really honest, still processing the responses and a bit overwhelmed because of so much appreciation. I am getting tongue-tied right now to talk about it. To be a part of this stellar cast is an accomplishment in itself, and getting accepted and appreciated for my work is an additional bonus. To work alongside such stalwarts as Prosenjit Chatterjee, Srabanti Chatterjee, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, and Bharat Kaul, among others, was a huge opportunity for me to prove myself. It was a break-or-make role, and I wanted to give my best, and the response was overwhelming. I am just grateful, feeling very surreal to sum it up.
You are young, beautiful and talented, yet offers in the Bengali film industry are few and far between. What do you feel is the reason behind this?
I don’t think opportunities are few because I have got lots of chances to prove myself and give it my best shot. I really do hope to continue getting such offers in the future. It’s all about correct timing, and nothing will happen before it’s supposed to happen.
What keeps you going as an actor?
My craving and hunger for more good work is what drives me. I don’t want to be limited as an actor. I want to explore more kinds and varieties of characters. One day I want to do a dance number, and the other day I want to play a serious character mouthing philosophies of life. I want to do each and every kind of role because I feel I have done nothing and there is so much more to learn and absorb from seniors and their experiences, which offer me more wisdom and help me give more shades to the characters I play in future projects.
In all these years of struggle, what are the lessons you have picked up?
The first lesson is to be really patient and believe in the process. This sounds a tad preachy, but it’s what I learnt through life; to be patient with an open and positive mind. When things might not go your way, you have to keep pushing yourself, doing extracurricular activities, taking up a hobby and keep pushing yourself.
What inspires you as an actor?
Everything around me inspires me. I have very few friends, literally four, and my family; they inspire me a lot and help me hold on to my originality and be authentic to myself and also motivate me to look into the mirror and question myself why, what, and how I am doing things. Also, I want to mention my didama (grandmother) who is no longer there, but she has been my biggest inspiration and whatever I say is less when it comes to her.
What kind of movies do you love watching? What’s the latest content you watched and loved?
I love to watch everything; it can be a masala movie like RRR or Andaz Apna Apna or something serious like Killers of the Flower Moon, Interstellar, or Oppenheimer. I also have a fetish for detective thrillers, be they movies or series in any language. I recently binged on Stranger Things because it’s nostalgic and an era is coming to an end. I was also rewatching Vampire Diaries, all eight seasons at a go.
Who are the Tollywood directors you want to work with?
There are so many of them, including Srijit Mukherji , Joydeep Mukherjee, Dhrubo Banerjee, Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy, Arindam Sil, Kaushik Ganguly, Arjunn Dutta, Kamaleswar Mukherjee, Avijit Senn, Soumik Sen, Abhirup Ghosh and Angshuman Pratyush.
What are your upcoming projects?
I am a part of Raj Chakraborty’s Hindi web series Ziddi Ishq, which just released a month back on an OTT platform. Apart from that, there are a few upcoming films like Se To Ekhono Bojhe Na alongside Soham and Priyanka Sarkar, Khyapa Bhaskar by Anshuman Pratyush and Abhirup Ghosh’s yet untitled movie alongside Abir Chatterjee, Priyanka and Darshana Banik.
Concept, ideation and interview: Sharmistha Ghosal
Pictures: Somnath Roy
Hair: Debjit Das
Makeup: Surojit Sarkar
Outfit: Suravika S
Jewellery: Style Addict, Divinus, Advaya
Styling: Poulami Gupta
Location and food: Eloise Bistro
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