I am looking for movies which can bring out my acting potential to the hilt and which are not just for making money. For me to act in a movie, the director must have some artistic sensibility and not just be entirely money-oriented. My movies might be commercial movies but they need to be something different from the run-of-the-mill ones. Like Life in a Metro, though it was a commercial movie yet it was something that was of a different genre and successfully captured the modern urban landscape. When you were working in this movie, did you guess that it would be such a hit?
No, of course not. I chose it as I liked the script. I really do not plan my movies that way. In fact, to be very honest, commercial success or failure of the film doesn’t matter to me too much. I had a great time working in the movie and Anurag is an excellent person to work with.
Tell us something about your relationship with your mother Aparna Sen? Do you rate her better as an actor or a director?
Of course we do share a special bond that words would fail to describe and I do think she is a great director. In fact I feel she is a better director but only because she is a great actor and understands what the needs of her actors would be. She has been my biggest influence actually. I can’t say concretely how she has helped, but it’s the little things I absorb from her on a daily basis. In fact the director I am most comfortable with is my mother because she understands me really well and I trust her completely.
You always do good movies. Who helps you to select them? How do you select the movies?
I really go by my instinct, as in most things. Usually I see if I like the script, then the director and then the role… in that order.
What has been your favourite film in which you’ve acted?
Now that’s rather an unjust question; it’s like asking which member of your family you love the most. But still if I would have to retrospect I would say that my character Mithi in 15 Park Avenue has been closest to my heart till date.
What if you are given a typical Bollywood masala film and the script reads well? Would you then agree to play the traditional role of a heroine and dance around trees?
Well at the end of the day the script will decide. But no dancing whether around trees or cars. I do not think it is a mental block; just that I feel dancing is not a part of acting. Besides, I am not comfortable doing it.
Tell us something about your favourite things. Like the best vacation that you have taken.
The best vacation till date has definitely been in Bhutan, where I went last year. It is tough to talk about a single destination which fascinates you, as when you are vacationing you do not go to the same place twice.
What is your style quotient?
I am too laidback to make much effort in creating a well-defined style quotient for myself. An overtly made-up look is not for me. Jeans and a casual top could sum up as my favourite attire, which I can carry off with élan almost anywhere.
What about food? What kinds of cuisine do you like?
As I told you I am not much of a stylish person and so it is definitely not some exotic cuisine that I like or would like to talk about. To be very honest, I love the street food of Kolkata. A biriyani from Aminia and chaap is still my favourite dish.
What is your future plan?
Nothing well defined as such. As I told you I am rather laidback and not very calculating. I am acting in several good movies and will continue to keep on acting as such. A few of the movies in which I am working now are Rituparno Ghosh’s Sunglass, Pradeep Sarkar’s Laga Chunri Mein Daag. I am eagerly awaiting their release.
Finally, what would you be if you were not an actor?
I would have loved to be a writer though I might have been a terrible one.
— TWF
What kind of movies are you looking for at the moment?
