For Ananya Chatterjee,it’s the script that matters

Chosen best actress for Rituparno Ghosh’s ‘Abohoman’ at the 57th National Awards,Ananya said she is interested in the kind of roles where the character has a dominant contribution to the narrative rather than one which plays second fiddle to the lead actor. “Throughout my career in Bengali films I had never opted for any second fiddle role,even not before Abohoman occurred in 2010,” said the actress.

It was during the award ceremony in Delhi that Ananya met her idol,Amitabh Bachchan who also got the National Award for his role in Hindi film ‘Paa’. “I was touched by the gentleman actor’s congratulatory SMS after getting the award. I met the superstar at the Rashtrapati Bhavan after receiving the award. That was our first meeting and he appreciated my work,” she said.

Ananya was also all praise for her director,Rituparno,who she said gives his actors a lot of space and has an eye for the minutest of details. “He is one of the most sensuous directors I have worked with,” Ananya,who also works in TV serials,said and hoped she would again get to work with him.

Referring to her stint with other directors Ananya said that she found Suman Ghosh,whose ‘Padakshep’ had fetched the National Award for actor Soumitra Chatterjee in 2005,as a very grounded person.

Ananya said,”It is vitally important for any actress to visualize the entire film in terms of the storyline and message before trying to essay the character.”

Asked how she coped with the post-award situation,the actress recalled that she had given non-stop phone interviews till five in the morning after getting the news the night before during shooting for a tv serial. “Winning can be a wonderful experience. But honestly this also imposes a burden – living upto people’s expectation,” she said.

Ananya,who has a significant role (Hiya Majumdar) in Aparna Sen’s forthcoming film ‘Iti Mrinalini’,counted Sen as among her favourites.