Konkona Sensharma, who completed more than two decades in the film industry this year, is a face we are used to seeing not just in commercial cinema but in films with socio-political importance as well. In the past few years, the actress has meted out several unconventional roles in the theatrical as well as the digital space, making her one of the most bankable faces of alternate cinema. During an exclusive conversation with News18.com, the actress shared what goes behind selecting the script and story she would like to tell on screen.
She said, “For a film, a lot of it is just instinct because it is a bit of risk. There is no foolproof way of choosing this. A lot of time you don’t know the people, you are just reading a script. Then different people are going to come and help you realize it in the format of cinema. You never know whether a good script is going to translate into a good film or whether a bad script becomes a good film. It is hard to predict. I usually go with my gut instinct.”
The actress continued, “If I find the script boring, difficult to read, or too complicated, then that’s a clear indication that this is not a story that is appealing to me. And I always like to have some kind of conversation with the director because that is the person who will be taking all the important decisions. If I find that I have a good rapport or a good understanding with the director, I enjoyed the script, and they can pay me decently then usually those are the factors for taking a project.”
In the last couple of years, Konkona has appeared in films such as Ajeeb Daastaans, Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi and Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare among others. In Ajeeb Daastaans, a Netflix anthology, the actress plays the role of a lesbian woman who also deals with class discrimination. In Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare, another Netflix original, the actress plays the role of a middle-class woman exploring her sexual desires. Asked whether it is important for her to give a message through a film or she just focuses on entertaining the audience, the actress said, “I don’t think either of these is important to me. Whether the character is giving a message or not, I don’t care. I don’t think it is important to always provide a message. Whether the film is entertaining or not also depends on how much I like the story. If I think that I like the story, or I like the way the story is told, that is good enough for me. However, what is important is how much I can relate to the character. If I can find some points of connection between myself and the character then that becomes a portal for viewers to connect to the character. I am the portal to connect the viewers to the character.”
Besides acting, Konkona has also tried her hands at directing and her 2016 film A Death in the Gunj emerged to be a critical success. However, the actress says that acting is her bread and butter and direction is something she would do once in a while. “I primarily see myself as an actor. That is really my bread and butter and that is what I’ve known also for many years. Film direction is something I would do once in a while if I feel I have something that I want to say. I have just finished directing a short film Lust Stories for Netflix. I think it will come out next year.”
The actor-director also made her podcast debut with Luminary’s audiobook Barefoot Boys. The story is based on the true story of 11 barefoot Indian football players who defeated the British team during a 1911 match. The narrative also delves deeper into the lesser-known chapter in India’s freedom struggle and football legacy. About the same, she said, “I guess it is my first podcast. I never looked at it like that. I think one is just drawn to a story and then it doesn’t matter in what format the story is told. The people from Luminary approached me saying that they wanted to tell this particular story of this football team from Bengal, which won the IFA (Indian Football Association) shield in 1911. And this is a story that, as a Bengali, I have heard a lot. I loved the story and wanted to tell it. It just happened to be a podcast.”
The actress added that it has been a learning experience for her as she knew very little of the original story. “I realized that I knew actually very little of the original story. Many Bengali kids have heard some version or the other of this story while growing up, not necessarily the facts and all the information. So I learned a lot about the context of the time, what else was happening, what exactly happened with these people, how it was formed, and how they came about the victory.”
“I’m very excited for people to hear this story. I hope that they will find it interesting because firstly, it’s very close to me, my own cultural identity and cultural heritage and it’s in English. It is an Indian story which is set against the backdrop of the freedom struggle. I hope that people will listen to it and connect to it. Then I’ll be very happy,” she shared.
Meanwhile, on the work front, the actress will be seen in her mother Aparna Sen’s directorial The Rapist which is slated to release next year. Talking about her upcoming lineup of work, she said, “My mother Aparna Sen directed a film called The Rapist which won a big award (Kim Jiseok award) at the Busan International Film Festival earlier this year and has been doing very well at film festivals. I think that we’ll have a release in the next few months. Other than that, there is a web series called Soup, which is also for Netflix. There is also a short film I directed for Netflix coming up next year along with Amazon Prime Video’s Mumbai Diaries 2,” Konkona Sensharma concluded.
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