Work is keeping Anindya Sengupta, a radio jockey-turned-actor, very busy thesedays. After debuting in Srijit Mukherji’s X=Prem, the audience got to watch Anindya back-to-back in Hostel Days, Kholam Kuchi, and now in Indrasis Acharya’s Niharika-In the Mist. The film is a gripping saga of a woman, played by Anuradha Mukherjee, who finally empowers herself after passing through a dark and abusive childhood. We speak to Sengupta to know more about the film and his journey.
Tell us about your role in Niharika.
Set in the end of the 1990s and early 2000s, my character Rangan is focused and boxed. He has a particular goal and is not ready to compromise, and slowly shifts into a grey zone, without him realising. Rangan is very different from Anindya.
Niharika has been shot in three schedules, during summer, monsoon and winter, in 2021. I joined just three days before the schedule, so, I didn’t get a chance to prep for the character much. But Indrasis liked my performance. I have heard that I was the third choice for the character, Rahul Arunoday Banerjee being the first.
You have been an able jock and anchor. What made you choose acting as your profession?
I was always a hardcore consumer of film and fiction and started pursuing amateur theatre somewhere around 2015. But I never really thought of taking up acting professionally. In 2016, we went to Pune Kathayatra to perform a play called Dear Earth, Hope you are Keeping Well. While performing this I felt something clicked, something felt right, and I could not get over that feeling even after I came back. I loved myself as a jock, but somewhere I think I fell in love with acting even more. And I had to take that plunge. It was the first time I made a conscious career choice!
You’re making your Bollywood debut alongside Pankaj Tripathi. How does that feel?
I have played a character in the film Kadak Singh, by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, which has Pankaj Tripathi and Sanjana Sanghi in the lead, and our very own Jaya Ahsan and Swaralipi Chatterjee too. I have played a focal role but the screen space is not much. But, I could not let this opportunity go, and meeting
Pankaj Tripathi was the best part. He is so humble!
Upcoming projects.
I have already shot for Srijit Mukherji's Oti Uttam, which is scheduled for release, along with Kadak Singh. Also, I have a few interesting projects in the pipeline.