Satyajit Ray's 'Ghare Baire' actor Swatilekha Sengupta considers herself fortunate to turn up opposite thespian Soumitra Chatterjee in Bela Seshe, a long three decades after sharing screen space.
"The reason behind my decision to take the plunge in film acting after all these years could be attributed to work along side Soumitrada. He is a legendary figure and during Bela Seshe shoots the Ghare Baire days kept coming back. Don't know if the same happened to Soumitrada, he is a man of few words," the spearhead of the 'Nandikar' theatre troupe told PTI here.
Swatilekha, who recalls being tentative in front of camera during the shoots of Shiboprosad Mukhopadhyay-Nandita Roy film outdoors, said, "I don't know why, but facing a live audience comes easily before me than perfecting a scene as wished by the director a number of times."
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Recalling the days of Ghare Baire, she still gets emotional to talk about Ray, "Who had given me so much respect despite me being a rookie hailing from a 'mofussil' place like Allahabad at that time."
"In Bela Seshe, a tale of relationships, I am a housewife who loves her family and husband. Me and Soumitra da are couples having experienced a jolt in their long-lasting relationships. I won't go beyond that," Swatilekha, who considers theatre personality-film actor Sohini Sengupta as a better performer than her, said.
Says Soumitra, "Having essayed over 350-400 films in a career of about five decades, it is not possible to judge films or define which I like the most. But I found the character of a book shop owner interesting enough."
Director Nandita Roy, of Shiboprosad
Mukhopadhyay-Nandita duo, said as the name suggests 'Bela Seshe' connotes how the relationshipsare rediscovered and assessed at the end of the tale.
"Part of the shots were at Santiniketan, having the Tagorean ambience and yes the story demanded such a star cast," she said.
