Puratawn by Sumon Ghosh, which stars Rituparna Sengupta, Sharmila Tagore and Indraneil Sengupta in lead roles, is an effort to capture the past while holding on to the present.
The urge to hold on to nostalgia and the sense of belonging for the past is a truth of life, which finds its contradiction when it is in conflict with the present. The film explores life as an interplay of the past and the present.
Advertisement
Puratawn is special to Rituparna for a lot of things…the film explores the relationship between the mother and daughter. It is also a comeback to Bengali cinema for the veteran actor Sharmila Tagore after more than a decade. The film, produced by Rituparna’s production house Bhavna Aaj O Kal, is special to the producer as it comes at a time when she lost her mother a few months back and says that she lived through every emotion which she portrayed on-screen.
“This wasn’t a planned thing as the film was in the making when my mother passed away suddenly. We had already completed the shoot and were on the verge of release. We had to postpone the release because of her demise. I was completely shattered with the biggest debacle of my life,” says Rituparna. The film is a tribute to her mother.
Going back in time, Rituparna says Sharmila Tagore had expressed her desire to act in a Bengali film, from where she started her acting journey. They both wanted to do a mother-daughter film. “The film talks about how we deal with the past and how elderly people always cling to the past while trying to negotiate with the present and future. We all face this in our lives one way or the other. It is there in our subconscious that puratawn (ancient) or vintage things are so valuable to us,” the Rajkahini actor adds.
Rituparna, who has worked with many senior actors in the past has enjoyed every moment of working with Sharmila Tagore. She terms the experience “awesome”. “I have never met someone so positive, and so dedicated towards her work. She is compellingly beautiful and much involved in the nuances of the character she is playing…it is a treat to watch her,” says a mesmerised Rituparna.
The producer-actor remembers that while shooting, how Sharmila Tagore would narrate incidents of her earlier shooting days when the heroes were often late on sets and everyone waited for them. The senior actor is happy that heroines are well attended now and given a lot of importance on the sets.
Narrating her own experience of working with senior actors like Soumitra Chatterjee, Aparna Sen, Mithun Chakraborty, Sabitri Chatterjee, Supriya Devi, Victor Banerjee…etc., Rituparna says all these actors are inspirations.“Working with them has given me a huge high. I want to be engaged with them more often and learn from their legacy.”
Recounting her shoot for Soumitra Chatterjee’s last film, Belashuru, Rituparna said, “There were so many beautiful scenes of mine with him in the father-daughter relationship. It will be most-ever memorable film in my life ever.”
The senior actor has come a long way since her initial days in the industry. She set creative goals for herself and now finds them being fulfilled. “How I have evolved as an individual and an actress. I’ve been in the industry for the last 30 years and have seen huge differences in the industry. I love the inspiration which comes from my creative pursuit. I want to discover my life everyday. I’m not a regular producer but in many aspects Puratawn is special as it is a signature film for my production house. Also, Sharmilaji has expressed in one of her interviews that this may be her last film. If that holds then it has huge significance for me.”
Ask the immensely popular actor if she enjoys being treated as a star. “It comes to me naturally. I enjoy being a star. I have worked hard for it and people have recognised me as a star, which is a privilege. I feel proud of it,” pat comes the reply. Rituparna says the actor’s instinct always dominates her. “The combination of an actor and star means a lot to me, it makes me complete and for my directors it opens up a bigger space to handle,” says the star Rituparna.
Rituparna awaits release of her film, Goodbye Mountain by Indrasis Acharya, which also stars Indraneil Sengupta. Then she has Ittar with Deepak Tijori, who is making a comeback.
