Swastika Mukherjee plays a dreaded gangster in Shibpur

Emotional attachment is perhaps the only Achilles heels in renowned actress Swastika Mukherjee, and like a double-edged sword, it works to her advantage too. “I get very attached to everything and it happens the most with the characters I play because the emotions for them come from the core of my heart. It takes a lot of time for me to get out of them,” says Swastika, while talking about her upcoming Bengali movie Shibpur, which releases in theatres on June 30.

This is for the first time that the talented artiste will be portraying Mandira Biswas, a role loosely based on the true events of the life of a deadly female gangster in Howrah’s Shibpur area in the 1980s.

“Gangster films are not made in the Bengali film space that often and that too with a woman protagonist is unheard of. So, I grabbed the opportunity and made the most of it,” Swastika enthuses as she shared details of her role and her other upcoming works including Section 84, a Hindi thriller with none other than Amitabh Bachchan.

How did you prepare for the role of Mandira Biswas?

The film shows a very layered and interesting journey of Mandira Biswas, who we see turning from a very simple and docile lower middle-class housewife to a dreaded gangster ruling Shibpur. It’s a tale of how a woman out of humiliation, loss, grief and helplessness turns into a heavyweight mafia in her quest to get revenge. How she transforms into a warrior queen and fights with other men in power is an incredible story.

I am an intuitive human being and this trait helps me as an actor. I don’t believe in seeing too many references but I go through the script an enormous number of times besides discussing with my director to understand his vision. Also, I learned how to use a pistol for the action scenes. I never held a gun before. Though I was a part of many action films before, I always played there a weak, vulnerable entity who stood in a corner either weeping or asking for help.

I am not a damsel in distress in this movie and I fight my own battles.

How was it holding a gun?

I realised how men in power or those in the underworld feel holding a gun. It gives you a power trip with everyone begging for mercy…you can take anyone’s life in a second. In fact, after two days of filming action sequences, I wanted to do more and I understood why the heroes really enjoy doing action films. In real life, we will never chase a person with guns in our hands, so, just as the heroes get an adrenaline rush enacting such sequences, the audience too celebrates their triumphs as one of their own wins.

Could you relate to that feeling too?

We all relate to films since they merge with reality and all our desires, wants and wishes. While doing the role of Mandira, I felt I was taking revenge for all that went wrong in my life -- the ugly things that happened in relationships that I never talked about, or the things for which I can never get justice or closure – and I poured my heart out. Through her win, I got some peace for myself too.

Do you believe in revenge?

I wish I could take some revenge, some at least (laughs). We believe in karma and it is true indeed. As humans, we seek immediate justice when we are wronged. But karma takes its own course and maybe it takes time but 5 or 10 years down the line it does happen.

Are you a violent person?

I am verbally very violent. Most of my sentences have words like ‘I will give you a tight slap’ (laughs). But I don’t remember having actually gotten angry in at least the past 3 years. I have been sad, heartbroken and miserable but not angry. Maybe I should take a lesson or two from Mandira (laughs).

Do you play a cop in the upcoming series Nikhoj?

Yeah, in Nikhoj I play a cop for the first time. People who know me say that I am a person with absolute extremes and I am loving it that I am getting the opportunities to play such diverse roles -- from a mafia to a cop. I thoroughly enjoyed playing a cop, who is also a mother, so, I had to balance the role well.

You just wrapped up shooting for Ribhu Dasgupta’s courtroom thriller drama, Section 84. How was it working with Amitabh Bachchan?

I was dead, really…somebody else had taken over my system. We did all the rehearsals of the scenes and I was invoking all Gods and Goddesses and my parents to save my day. It was a 7-day dream-come-true experience.

Other upcoming projects?

I will begin shooting for a Bengali thriller film Durgapur Junction where I am playing a negative role. There’s an anthology film in Hindi and another indie film.