‘I depend a lot on my director’

An actor’s job is very tricky because he or she has got to fulfil someone else’s vision, say someone else’s lines, Konkona Sen Sharma tells V. Ananth

Konkona is excited. Because she has followed up the success of Page 3 with encomiums galore—her brilliant performance in mother Aparna Sen’s latest venture 15 Park Avenue as well as Rajat Kapoor’s Mixed Doubles. At the outset Konkana clarifies that Mixed Doubles isn’t a sleazy sex comedy about wife swapping. "I play Malti Arora who is married to Sunil Arora played by Ranvir Shorey and has a seven-year-old son. Our marriage is going through a slight stale patch and we are looking for ways to overcome the stalemate."

Adds Konkona: "I wouldn’t have liked to be a part of Mixed Doubles if it were a sex comedy. It isn’t just about sex, just as Mr & Mrs Iyer wasn’t only about communal issues and 15 Park Avenue wasn’t just about schizophrenia. I read the script and trusted Rajat blindly. What attracted me to the subject was that though very few films address themselves to women’s sexual need, Mixed Doubles boldly makes a statement that women also have a libido and want to have sex."

Konkona or Kooki as she is affectionately called is a very warm person, who is also very frank. Does she regret having opted out of Mira Nair’s The Namesake, I ask her. Comes the reply, with a tinge of sadness: "I was cast opposite Irfan Khan in Mira’s film, which I looked forward to do.

It would have been a big challenge to do a role, which traverses from 19 to 45. I had already read The Namesake. It was about the migration of a young couple. I couldn’t allot Mira the dates because she couldn’t start the project as planned and I had already allotted my dates to mum’s project."

Right now Konkona is eagerly looking forward to the release of Siddharth Srinivasan’s Amavas in which Tara Sharma, Mahesh Manjrekar, Neena Gupta and Victor Bannerjee are her co-stars and Deadline in which Irfan is her leading man. She is also excited about doing yet another film called Doshor with Rituparno Ghosh after having done his Titli some years back. "I did my own stunts too in Amavas which is a film dealing with supernatural powers. I think horror is amplified if it is contexualised in reality. I feel there are greater chances of horror if the characters appear ‘real’ in a horror film. Often an actress finds herself just ornamental in a film. I am of the opinion that a film is more of a product to make money."

Konkona is of the opinion that an actor’s job is very tricky because he or she has got to fulfil someone else’s vision, say someone else’s lines, stand where he or she is asked to stand. According to her, acting isn’t the be all and end all of life. "A lot of times I find acting to be a boring chore. You spend most of the time waiting when you shoot for a film. Acting is only a shooting experience. The film is more important to me," she quips.

Has it been an advantage to have Aparna Sen as her mother, I ask her. "I do not know what the disadvantages of having a director like Aparna Sen as my mother are. I should say I am lucky enough to have her as my mother. Mum started direction when she was 32 with 36 Chowringhee Lane. In fact I was born when she was directing that film. I was cast in Mr & Mrs Iyer because I happened to be around mum when she decided on the project. It is a compliment if expectations soar because I happen to be her daughter. Mum and I understand each other very well. I know her body language well and she knows mine. We are in tune with each other."

To what extent does Konkona depend on her director? "I depend a lot on my director. I may be spontaneous as an actor but I need a director. It is true that I do a lot of acting subconsciously and I need the director to tone me down if I tend to go haywire at times." Does she feel that there is need to attend a workshop before she starts working on every film of hers, I ask her. "For Mr & Mrs Iyer, regardless of who the director was, I’d have insisted on attending a workshop, whereas for Amavas and Page 3 I didn’t feel the need to have a workshop. The subject of the film determines whether or not you should have a workshop before it is launched."

That is Konkona Sen Sharma for you—free, frank and, what’s more, forthright! — MF

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