I had panic attacks due to Amphan, thinking about my loved ones: Rituparna
This lockdown “superhero” doesn’t mind picking locks for freedom! A mysterious figure, who calls himself Jose, goes about picking the locks of parks in Paris at night. He doesn’t like people being confined in their flats. So, to help them get a breath of fresh air, he pulls off this feat!
The destruction caused by super cyclone Amphan in eastern India is so severe that over a week later, normal life is still out of gear. Actor Rituparna Sengupta, who is currently in Singapore with her husband and children, recalls the nightmare of being unable to contact her mother, in-laws, relatives, friends and colleagues in Kolkata.“i had panic attacks thinking about their well-being. Some of them reside in areas that have been badly affected. I was feeling helpless,” she says, adding she felt better after she spoke to them, almost a day later.
Sengupta’s NGO, which provides rations to hundreds of unprivileged people, is now working day and night to help those affected by the cyclone.
The 48-year-old is unable to travel as international flights from Singapore haven’t resumed yet. “My family and friends are asking me to not come to Kolkata right now but I want to be by their side. It’s my city, my home, it’s difficult to be away,” says Sengupta, who has also been helping technicians and supporting actors in Kolkata and Mumbai. She says that it hurts actors’ self-respect to ask for help, and instead they end up taking drastic steps. “A number of people work for me. I’m paying their salaries... I’m there for them,” she adds.
Expressing concern about the mental well-being of people amid this crisis, she adds,
“Many have lost their jobs… There’s a rise in domestic violence cases, relationships falling apart. Mental health is of prime concern and only compassion towards each other can save us,” she adds.
On the professional front, Sengupta’s latest film, Parcel, released in March and could only run for three days as theatres were shut amid the pandemic. However, makers are not eyeing an OTT release yet. “OTT platforms are giving makers and actors a space to release their work and earn back the money. But theatres also need to run. That’s where films thrive. This is a neverending debate… Both mediums employ several people and need to survive,” she explains.