Ahead of her latest web series Nikhoj, the versatile actress Swastika Mukherjee gets candid with Indulge on playing a cop for the first time.
Tell us about playing Brinda.
Brinda Basu is DCP Lalbazar and a single working mother. She is investigating the case of her own daughter and constantly juggling between balancing her personal and professional lives.
You played a gangster in Shibpur and are now a cop. How was it stepping into two polar roles?
If you talk about dynamics they are different. But I feel the fight is the same. As Mandira Biswas of Shibpur I was fighting against the male–dominated society. Here, being a woman police I am still working in a male-dominated space; although nowadays we see a lot of women joining the force. As Mandira and Brinda I am fighting to protect my family. I was a widowed mother there; I am a single mother here. As women, they are pretty similar, almost like two parts of the same coin.
Actors like Tabu (Drishyam) and Raveen Tandon (Aranyak) have played similar roles. What sets Brinda apart?
The premise and characteristics are very different. Also, I will bring my own thoughts to it. We are seeing a lot of women cop-driven shows nowadays like Kathal and Dahaad. I didn’t find any similarities between them. I think all actors bring their own visions to the role along with the directors and tell different stories.
Did having a daughter in real life influence your decision to be a part of this project?
No. My personal space is never a driving force for me to choose a character. It depends on what my contribution is and how different it is from my previous work. I have never played a cop before so it was exciting. I wanted to work with Ayan Chakraborti and that opportunity finally came. I last worked with hoichoi in 2020, so I definitely wanted to do something. Also, Bengali is my mother tongue and I want to do good work for my Bengali audience.
Your upcoming projects
I am shooting for a Bengali film called Durgapur Junction and a Hindi movie.
Nikhoj starts streaming on hoichoi on August 11, 2023
Swastika Mukherjee photo courtesy: Pritam Sarkar