I’m now ready for Bollywood: MUMTAZ SORCAR

Nandini Guha spoke to the actor, who has been choosy about scripts but is now willing to do more Bollywood films, about her passions and lifestyle...

Ace magician PC Sorcar Junior’s youngest daughter, Mumtaz, who has appeared in 30 films in seven years, is a boxing freak. In fact, it is her love for this sport which has her pretty excited about her big release Guru. Another film scheduled to hit the theatres this May is a Bengali feature, Raktakarabi, based on Rabindranath Tagore’s dance drama. Mumtaz, who loves cooking and dancing when she is not shooting, is also working for two new Tamil films this year and says that she is now ready take up more roles in Bollywood.

Mumtaz, tell us about your first big

release of 2017, Guru…. My first big release this year will be Guru, the Telugu remake of a hit Tamil film directed by Sudha Kongara, Irudhi Suttru. The Hindi version was the critically acclaimed Saala Khadoos. Guru is the story of two women boxers who are in fact sisters and the changing dynamics of their relationship. The coach is played by Venkatesh. The sisters come from a poor family and their father is a fishmonger. I’m playing the elder daughter, who gets into boxing because she wants to land a job in the Police force to support her family. The younger one is a natural wrestler and under a good coach, who even lands the World Cup. At one point, sibling rivalry separates the duo but they come together again. I am into boxing and so I could play the part since the whole film is about professional boxers.

You also have a big Bengali film to

be released this year, Raktakarabi…. Yes, for the first time, Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Raktakarabi’ will see a celluloid version. I play the role of Nandini but then it is a modern interpretation. The central character Nandini is a revolutionary, just as Tagore had conceived her but the times have changed. Raktakarabi is a political film, a reflection of our times. Bishu Pagol has been assayed by Kaushik Sen in Raktakarabi and the musical score has been done by Debojyoti Mishra. Raktakarabi’s most celebrated stage version was Bohurupee’s 1954 production, with lead characters played by the legendary Sambhu Mitra and Tripti Mitra.

This is your second Amitava Bhattacharya film…. Yes, last year, I assayed the very difficult role of Chitrangada in Bhattacharya’s maiden film, titled Conditions Apply. That film was based on the life story of Chitrangada, a eunuch whose true identity gets exposed and how society treats her after they get to know that she is not a woman. Chitrangada connects with herself but goes through a period of deep turmoil. In a way it is the most difficult role that I have assayed till date. The film was meant for the festival circuit.

On Bollywood...

There are offers. Recently, there was an offer for a commercial film but I wasn’t ready at that time. I wanted to be sure, to work on myself first. Now that I’m better than what I was and have some acting experience of working in different cities, I’ve matured as a human being. Most of these regional films gave me new units and different languages to deal with. I was the only Bengali there and I thought people expected something from me, as the representative of Bengali cinema. I’m now ready for Mumbai.

You are known to be a workout addict, how do you relax?

Right now, I’m taking physiotherapy because of a small back injury which I got while working for Saala Khadoos though I never stopped acting. At the moment, I’m not working out fervently. Otherwise, I exercise everyday under the guidance of coach Ranodeep Maitra. As for relaxing, we are one big happy family and we have a lot of fun when all of us – especially the three sisters – are together. We all have different careers and are busy during the whole day, but we usually get together for dinner and exchange notes. I also love cooking and my bakes are pretty famous in the family circuit. Plus, we have three pets – two Mastiffs and a stray one – who I adore.