Rituparna Sengupta: Shah Rukh Khan is the other name of success

Actor Rituparna Sengupta missed out on the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival 2022 due to personal commitments. She was in Singapore when Hindustan Times called her to know her whereabouts, and upcoming Hindi and Bengali projects.

Where have you been?

Right now I’m in Singapore. After shooting for almost 1 and a half months straight, I have taken a break because my daughter was unwell here. I missed KIFF but sometimes you have to prioritize.

Also read: Rituparna Sengupta on Singapore recording new Covid-19 cases

This year’s opening ceremony witnessed the presence of Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan and Rani Mukerji among others.

Yes, I missed the whole opening ceremony because of a family emergency. I have always been there. We couldn’t have KIFF for some time due to covid. I saw Shah Rukh and Amit ji. Even Amit Ji’s 80th birthday was celebrated, it was fantastic. KIFF has always been the biggest event, with everyone flying in from across the world. My movie Akorik with Victor Banerjee was screened.

You have met, interacted and even collaborated with Shah Rukh Khan for an advertisement. How would you describe him?

The other name for success is Shah Rukh khan. He is the most valuable star of our times. His stardom is endless. It’s so amazing that being someone not coming from any legacy he has done it all and conquered. I respect him. I have high regard for him.

We have actually done a commercial for Sondachandi. We have been together at many events. I attended matches and cheered for his cricket team when he sent me an invitation. He talks to me very warmly wherever we meet. He was in Kolkata for the promotion of Zero. I remember him introducing me to Aanand L Rai. He said she is a good friend. Now he is coming back with Pathaan after 4 years. He always gives time to see what he wants to do. He is not in a run to do many movies. This is what I like about him.

Much like him, even you have achieved heights in the Bengali film industry being an outsider, with no filmy background. What do you think about the tag of being called a female superstar of the 90s when people believed that female actors come with a shelf life?

It’s true. People say that female actors come with a shelf life but I always wanted to prove them wrong. I don’t know where it came from. It suddenly triggered me and I felt like why only women will take a backseat or will be written off. It was a very bad taboo that we used to have. But luckily things have changed over the years.

My struggle was different from when I started off. It was something like being told that ‘you are the hero’s heroine’ or ‘you are a person who will always be named after the hero’. We always had this cliché thinking that after the hero, there is the heroine. To be honest, I enjoyed those films because every experience was precious to me.

When I started it felt like I was the product of commercial cinema with all the hits. I have full high regard for commercial films. At the same time, I evolved with every cinema, through time and with each of my film characters. I actually didn’t think about evolving. When I started getting offers from directors like Rituparno Ghosh, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Aparna Sen, Raja Sen and Tarun Majumdar, it helped me to get into a different genre. Their films were commercially successful. It made me feel like ‘ok I am useful for this kind of films as well.’ It’s a sort of hope that you can only give to yourself and feel useful in films without the quintessential hero.

I have gained a lot of confidence and there’s a learning spree. I am just closing one chapter and opening another one. The chapter of life is still going on and I have a lot to do. In this journey, I have seen too many changes in time and equations. In the whole ideology of films, everything has changed.

Do you think the meaning of stardom has equally changed over time?

Rituparna Sengupta: I remember once I was shooting for Alo in an old house in a rural area. The whole wall of the house came down because of the people who came to watch us. The frenzy to just see a glimpse was madness.

Go on…

I had that whole idea of being somebody who is just not next to the hero. I started seeing myself as somebody who can be a part of a subject so strongly that people will talk about me in the film. I wanted to make them feel that yes she has made a statement of her own.

From Rituparna Sengupta’s Dahan to Paromitar Ek Din to Debipaksha to Charuulata 2011 and Praktan, there’s a whole list of films which blurred the lines between art and commercial films. How do you recall your journey?

People have remembered me with my character’s name from these films. This was the power of people like Rituparno Ghosh. I have always been challenged by my subjects. A lot of people just want to be a heroine, and be in their comfort zone, there’s nothing wrong with it. I have experienced that too, but I accepted the challenges beyond it.

I always feel charged about the fact that if a man can why can’t a woman? If the challenges come to you healthily, then you should face it. Till today I have not lost my appetite for a good cinema. I might not be conventional but I don’t want to disappoint my audience. They are my god. They made me what I am. If a film fails, I accept it. In that case, the extraordinary part of me has to wake up. People tell me that I have achieved a lot in my career but I don’t think so. This isn’t the ultimate success. For me, each film is like a chapter of a book. There are so many that I cannot explore all in my life.

What about your upcoming projects?

I have a handful of projects now. My most recent would be Arindam Sil’s Mayakumari and Mahishasur Marddini. Then I am going to embark on another project.

Some Hindi movies are also ready for release. It will be Bansuri with Anurag Kashyap, Good Morning Sunshine with Revathy, Jihad with Rohit Roy, Arbaz Khan and Mahesh Manjrekar’s Kal Tighori, Ittar with Deepak Tijori, and Tere Aane Se by Purab Kohli. I also have Salt with Chandan Roy Sanyal.