Director Paramita Munsi’s upcoming film Marriage Anniversary, the opening film of an upcoming Bengali OTT platform, Flixbug, revolves around a couple, Arunava and Bipasha, who share an age gap of 25 years. Arunava marries an orphan Bipasha (played by Debleena Dutt) and the story begins when they celebrate their 25th marriage anniversary. Some events on that day make everything take a tumultuous turn. We speak with Debleena about her role and her take on age gaps in relationships ahead of the film’s release this summer.
How different is your character from the ones you’ve played so far?
When Paramita told me that I have to play a vast time range in the life of a girl, I found it very challenging. It also happened that I had to shoot the role of say a 25-year-old and a 50-year-old on the same day. It’s not just about the change in the looks, but the character goes through remarkable transformations in the 25 years of the marriage.
In a world that still points fingers at the woman in most abusive marriages, will this film help shed light on the matter from a different angle?
Bipasha has been abused for some 25 years, very similar to many in society. But that doesn’t mean she’ll have to deal with it for the rest of her life as well. She once liked this man and got married, and he’s her only support since she’s an orphan. However, Bipasha takes the upper hand to decide for herself, fully and finally. I would say that’s the takeaway from this movie. The film throws light that such incidents don’t mean an end of life. They can be dealt with too.
What is your personal take on the age-gap factor in relationships and marriages?
See, if you look around, why just 25 years years, you may find age differences that go up to 35 or even 40 years. So, it personally doesn’t matter to me. Whether a couple is compatible or not, the age difference has got nothing to do with it. If their wavelengths and maturity match, that’s what matters.
How is your experience working with Paramita?
Paramita and I are great friends, and I trust the work she does. We have a great understanding and working together feels like a picnic on the sets, every day. I like how she thinks about the characters and Bipasha was no different, which made me choose her immediately. In fact, I don’t remember not choosing Paramita’s scripts ever.