With a whole lot of releases, shoots and announcements happening this year, actor Rituparna Sengupta is living out of her suitcase. Not just Bengali films, the diva is working on a few Hindi films too. But for Rituparna, “living out of a suitcase doesn’t mean that my life is always on a run, rather for me it means that I am doing a lot of work which is worthwhile.” Amid her extremely busy schedule, we caught up with her for a freewheeling chat.
The year seems to be super busy for you.
It is. Along with a few releases like Mayakumari, Akorik, A Beautiful Life and so on, many more are in the pipeline too. Kaushik Ganguly is planning to make a film that would feature Prosenjit Chatterjee and me. It would be our 50th film together. And I am also shooting for Dabaru, a film by Pathikrit Basu. It’s a biopic of Surjo Shekhar Ganguly and I think there is a lot of dynamism in that film since a film on chess is rarely made. Recently, I started shooting for Indrasis Acharya’s Gajoner Dhulobali, starring Ritwick Chakraborty. I have also finished another film with him, Goodbye Mountains. There are a lot of finished films waiting to be released, like Antardrishti and Damini. There’s also a film Amar Labangalata, based on Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel Rajani. I’ve completed two Hindi films, Ittar and Kaal Trighori. We are trying to get Hari Vishwanath’s Bansuri-The Flute, which sees Anurag Kashyap as my husband, re-release sometime soon. I am doing a film with Saswata Chatterjee called Chuti, which is almost complete. And yes, of course, Puratawn is happening.
How did Puratawn happen?
Sometime back when we had met, Sharmila Tagore expressed that if a great script came across, she could be a part of a Bengali film, and I remembered it. Meanwhile, the talented director Suman Ghosh came to interview me for Aparna Sen’s documentary and we sparked off a conversation. We had worked together in Basu Poribar, where Aparna Sen and I played the mother-daughter duo. Suman was also meeting Sharmila ji and Mamata Shankar in a conversation, a month later in the US. We discussed a possible storyline and had a skeletal structure in mind. Thereafter, Suman went back to Miami (where he is a full-time professor) and he put in place an interesting screenplay to bind the beautiful idea. After reading the script, we felt it right to approach Sharmila ji to play the role, which is that of my mother in Puratawn. We were overjoyed when she said yes to the script.
I’m sure you must have grown up watching Sharmila Tagore on screen when you were young. How excited are you for this film?
It’s almost like a dream come true moment to get associated with her. She is an epitome of beauty, grace, talent and humility. We were in conversation for a pretty long time and had said that she is very fond of me and trust me, I am in awe of her. So it’s like a beautiful experience to walk through this process and I am eagerly waiting to meet her on the sets soon. My father would have been very happy to know about this association. He loved her in Nayak, Aranyer Din Ratri and Devi. I am sure he is watching us from heaven.
Playing a role immortalised by Suchitra Mitra (in the movie Dutta), or sharing screen space with Victor Banerjee or Sharmila Tagore, is it intimidating?
I always feel nervous and intimidated to work with veterans like the names you took, their body of work, wisdom and hard work always leave me in awe. I consider myself a learner and a keen observer always.
As a producer, what do you look forward to — several weeks at the theatres, OTT presence or making a mark at film fests?
All of the above actually. As a producer, we are always looking out for good responses from all the available mediums. We want our creation to reach out to the people, and the audiences in as many ways as possible.
You also did a few dance shows this year. How do you manage time and schedule time for your professional and personal life?
Dance is my passion and I have extreme regard for dance. It has always been my first love and still I love my dance moves to be perfect to the T. Dance releases a lot from you, it soothes your mind, body and soul. Dance is a must for me. Professional time is always a priority for me, but to arrive at that, you need to have a great share of your sacrifices! I have done and still do it and try to balance it, with an adequate amount of travelling too, since half of my family stays in Singapore and half here, in Kolkata.
When will we see you in web shows?
That exciting offer has not come yet. If I do a web show, it has to be something spectacular, something extraordinary. So I am waiting for the right script.