After a successful film career,marriage and motherhood,Srabonti has two big films Amanush and Wanted releasing on the same day How does it feel to have two big releases on the same day,Ravi Kinagis Wanted and your husband Rajiv Kumars Amanush?I am thrilled and excited and waiting with bated breath for both these films. By some strange twist of coincidence,I play a catalyst who is in love with the hero in both Wanted and Amanush. While Amanush is produced by Shree Venkatesh Films,Wanted is produced by Ashok Dhanuka. It is a big high for me.In Amanush,I play an engineering student who is disgusted with the rustic and crude ways of the hero,played by Soham. But she slowly finds herself falling in love with this geek and begins to polish up this boy and makes him sophisticated. In Wanted,Jeet plays a young orphan framed for a murder. I play an introverted,who studied in London and has lost her near and dear ones. How comfortable were you performing intimate scenes with the hero under the direction of your husband?I would not have been in his films if I had comfort-level issues with different heroes. Rajiv and I have complete understanding because we belong to the same profession and are familiar with the problems and the nature of our work together. We discuss a love scene before we go on the sets as director and actress so that when I am facing the camera and he is directing,there are no issues at all. Rajiv has complete faith in me and he knows how I can keep myself detached and be objective while doing an intimate scene. But you do not wear revealing clothes.Thats right. I dont wear revealing clothes because I feel they do not go with my persona. In my earlier films like Bhalobasa Bhalobasa,I wore ghaghra-cholis in many scenes because the script demanded a very Indian image of a girl who belongs to a traditional family. In Dujone,I wore long skirts and carried them off well. I wear slightly different looks in Wanted and in Amanush. But I really cannot visualise myself wearing a bikini in any film. I would be very uneasy in it. Besides,as a married woman with a family,never mind that I am in films,I need to wear outfits that would not hurt the sensibilities of my family. I have a very supportive family and would hate to hurt their feelings. When did you think of becoming an actress?I was approached by a gentleman when I was studying in the third standard,if I would like to act in a film. I was too small to understand all that so he approached my parents. The gentleman was Swapan Saha. I found myself facing the camera for his Mayar Bandhan as a child artiste. Right through my growing years,I did many serials and tele-films till the big screen beckoned. Ever since I can remember,all I have wanted to be is an actress even when I really did not understand the implications of being one. Acting has been a passion all through my life. Did this put a full-stop to academics?Yes,and no. I did Champion when I was studying in Std.X. I got married in the middle of Champion,when I was barely 16. I somehow managed to complete my Higher Secondary but I could not complete my graduation. How would you define yourself as an actress?I am both a directors actress and a spontaneous one and I combine the two for every role. I take my directors commands,he is the captain of the ship and then enact accordingly. If I feel like improvising or interpreting or suggesting,I do it. I look at acting as tight-rope walking of a trapeze artistyou take one wrong step and you come down with a crash. You are not given a second chance. For all my roles,whenever I get the chance,I look into the mirror and rehearse a given scene in different ways. This helps me to face the camera with some preparation and to internalise the character. I try to catch the characters graph completely. Which was your comeback film after a hiatus of five years?It was Ravi Kinagis Bhalobasa Bhalobasa (2008) produced by Himangshu Dhanuka opposite Hiron. It was the second film for both Hiron and me. We shot some song sequences in Austria and had a ball. I share very good comfort levels with Hiron and he is great fun to work with. I played the beautiful,no-holds-barred,simple and honest Priya. The hero Sidhu falls in love with her and his life changes forever. I had to shed a few kilos to slip into the role but it was worth it. My character was that of a strong and honest young girl,a happy departure from the usual stereotype And then came Dujone directed by your husband Rajiv Kumar.Dujone was a big hit. I played Meghna,a good girl who is dominated by a tyrannical elderly aunt in her family portrayed by Seema Biswas. But once she falls in love,all hell breaks loose and she takes courage in her hands to run away with Akash,the man of her life played by Dev. The original source of inspiration for this film was Yeh Dil (2003) directed and scripted by Teja. The film was like an endless,roller-coaster ride in an adventurous journey that everyone enjoyed. Can you mention some of the directors you would love to work with?I would love to work again and again with Raviji and with my husband Rajiv. Then,I would love to work with everyone in Bengali cinema from Raj Chakraborty to Sujit Guha to off-mainstream directors if I am confident about the role they would ask me to play.
