Actors Kaushik Ganguly and Aparajita Adhya on their chemistry in Kathamrita

They have always set the screen on fire with their trail-blazing acts and are among the flagbearers of the content-driven new-age cinema. We are talking about Kaushik Ganguly and Aparajita Adhya.   

A multiple National award-winning filmmaker, Kaushik needs no introduction in the world of cinema and now, he has paired up with the talented actress Aparajita for director Jiit Chakraborty's second film, Kathamrita -- a story of a middle-aged Bengali couple Sulekha and Sanatan. The film is a relationship tale that delves deep into how words can be fatal to relationships. Kaushik's character Sanatan is a mute person who often pens down his feelings in a diary and he and his wife Sulekha are regarded as the ideal couple in their neighbourhood. We speak with the humble actors about the film and working opposite each other after almost two decades.

This is your first on-screen act as a couple... 

Aparajita Adhya: Not the first time really. some 20 years ago we did a television series Ghore Baire where he played a very bad husband opposite my character. I was then a struggling artiste who was trying to buy a house at that point in time. Kaushik told me then that if I continued working as hard as I did, my dream would definitely come true.

Kaushik Ganguly: It did and she called me too to inform me of the same (smiles).

Aparajita Adhya: Kaushik is not only a great director but also a very sensitive actor and it's difficult to tell what he is better at -- acting or directing. I think he is complementary in the roles. 

Anyways, coming back to the point. since then, we have been wanting to work again opposite each other and when this offer came I said yes just because he is there.

Kaushik Ganguly: I too said yes because of her. I think the audience loves us as actors and would love us even more together on screen. 

Tell us a little about the movie?

Aparajita Adhya: This is a very simple relationship tale of a middle-aged couple from a typical middle-class Bengali family. I play Sulekha and my husband, Sanatan, played by Kaushik does everything but doesn't speak a word and there's a story behind this. You know, how a family stays depends upon the words spoken between each other. Your words can either break or make a family. There are times when instead of creating one needs to turn silent. The film shows how bitter acrimonies can hurt and end relationships and how sweet nothings or silence can strengthen bonds.

Kaushik Ganguly: If your bond is strong as a couple, most of the time you don't even need words -- expressions and eye contact are enough. Suppose a husband is over-drinking at a party, mere eye contact with his wife will convey the message that she isn't liking it and he will stop. That's called body language, you don't need to talk every time. And that's the kind of relation Sulekha and Sanatan share.

Aparajita, how different is your character fro other such roles you have played?

I think all the characters I have played so far are distinctly different from each other. My mother, aunts, and a few neighbours are all housewives and they wear saris the same way, watch similar movies and theatres, and have similar food habits, yet each one of them is distinctly different from the other. The same is true about the characters I have played in movies. Sulekha is a housewife but she is very unique and that's why I chose to play her.

When I started shooting for this movie, Kaushik was so into it, there were times I felt as if he had metamorphosed into Sanatan and it was so very easy to enact the scenes well laid out by the director.

Your character Ganesh in your award-winning film Bisarjan was much liked. How differently have you portrayed Sanatan?

The way Ganesh loved Padma, here too, Sanatan loves Sulekha and is a very good man but there is something about him which if I say further might give away the plot. In this age of social media where everyone is spilling venom and creating a very vicious environment with their attacking words, this film celebrates words.

How do you both handle trolls and comments on social media?

Kaushik Ganguly: I don't handle it at all. I feel people who have nothing else to do but troll or say negative things on others' walls,  actually need treatment and therapy.

Aparajita Adhya: I don't read the comments at all. I simply use social media to reach out to my fans and well-wishers and communicate with them.

Kaushik Ganguly: I feel social media is the most powerful platform right now which is being very wrongly used. 

How is the content changing in the Bengali film industry?

Kaushik Ganguly: Just like in the middle ages Bengali literature saw the emergence of sagas like Mangalkabyas where a man was given more importance than the gods, here too, we are witnessing the tales around character artistes rather than heroes or stars. 

Aparajita: Thanks to some great content, we are seeing many actors, who were pushed away to the horizon, slowly getting back their rightful places under the sun.

Your upcoming projects?

Kaushik Ganguly: As a director, I have Kaberi Ontordhan that' slated for release on January 20 and as an actor there is Shubho Bijoya and Atanu Ghosh's Aro Ek Prithibi.

Aparajita Adhya: I have Premendu Bikash Chaki's film Love Marriage where I am cast opposite veteran actor Ranjit Mallick and there's also Rahool Mukherjee's Dilkhush opposite actor Kharaj Mukherjee.

Kathamrita releases in theatres on November 18