Swatidi used to be very protective of me as I was the youngest member of our batch at the Nandikar workshop. Whenever sir (Rudraprasad Sengupta) scolded me, Swatidi would come forward to rescue me, saying, “Tumi oke kichu bolo na.” She would at times get chocolates for me, which would fill me with sheer joy. When Nanditadi (Roy) and I directed our first film, Icche, with Sohini (Sengupta), Swatidi complained, “Tui to Babua (Sohini) ke niye chhobi korli.” While I was in Nandikar, I was closer to Swatidi than Sohini. We waited to create a character for Swatidi, which was also supposed to be my gurudakshina. The day we decided to make Belaseshe, we immediately signed Swatidi and Soumitrada (Chatterjee) up for the film.
At the initial stage of Belaseshe, Swatidi was a bit nervous due to her lack of practice in facing the camera. She used to say, “Ami parbo toh, bol?” As the shooting progressed, she took command of her character and revealed the true actress in her. The confidence I saw in her as an actress earlier was back. When she was working on the famous ‘obhyesh’ scene, the entire unit cheered for her. Some even got emotional.
I remember, when we were about to start Belaseshe, Swatidi told me that she had a few theatre shows lined up. I asked Sohini to cancel all the shows and even called up Rudraprasadbabu — the sir I was so scared of — and argued that Swatidi would not go for any call shows. “She is facing the camera after so long. I won’t let her go for call shows now,” I argued.
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