A new chapter

It would have been a little difficult to instantly place Indraneil Sengupta even a year back,unless of course you had dedicated your early teens to Falguni Pathak music videos. And if you see him all over tabloids and posters in the city these days,Sengupta has an ‘accidental’ brush with Bengali films,to thank. “I had been in Mumbai modelling,working in Hindi soaps and commercials for the past 10 years. I got this completely unexpected call from Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s office to audition for Janala. He had seen my photographs and thought I might suit the character,” says Sengupta. However,he was definitely not prepared for the flurry of offers that came his way post-Janala,even thought the film didn’t get a commercial release.

So he debuted with the critically acclaimed Angshumaner Chhobi,and his second release was more on the commercial lines – with Riingo’s Jodi Ekdin. While Tollywood has been toying with new comers like never before,Sengupta brings in a rare subtlety and sophistication to the industry populated with over-the-top stereotypes. “Ever since the Bengali films happened,I have not been working in the TV soaps. Acting in television is mostly about money,which of course is reassuring. But it does not let you grow as an actor,” he says. And while Bengali films don’t always spell money,it means a lot for an actor who probably has stifled his creative impulse for survival. “Bengali films are not made on big budgets. The pay isn’t flattering. But a lot of new directors,out-of-the-box ideas,make up for it,” says Sengupta who has Kaushik Ganguly’s Arekti Premer Golpo,Srijit Mukherji’s Autograph and Anjan Das’ Bedeni lined up for release.

From Prosenjit to Rituparno Ghosh,and Rituparna Sengupta to Nandana Sen,Sengupta has managed to share screen space with the biggest names in Tollywood,but fame doesn’t get to him. “I don’t know if this is because I have struggled for long. But I realize that it doesn’t help being star struck with your co-actors. I felt very privileged to work with people like Boomba da and Ritu da,but I interacted with them like I would with any other colleague. It’s so refreshing to see how encouraging and down-to-earth they are,” he says.

And while most of his work can well be labeled as parallel cinema,Sengupta says that he didn’t choose the genre deliberately. “These films came my way. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking the genre I am acting in. All I want is a good script and a good director,” says Sengupta. And new directors,with an eye for the unusual,will always score with him. “Take for example,Srijit. I didn’t know him,had never heard of him. But the way he narrated me the story,I knew this was a film with a lot pf promise,” he explains.

He has seen life enough not too make lofty claims. “I don’t have unreal expectations of life. I have hardly had time to breathe over the last couple of months,but I am happy. As of now,I am craving a break,” he ends with a laugh.