‘ Playing my grandmom is the role of a lifetime’
Raima Sen talks about her latest film Children Of War and a biopic on her grandmother Suchitra Sen
I don’t want to do rubbish in Bollywood just because I want to be there
“There are some things we should be aware of. We know about the genocide in Germany, shouldn’t we also know about the genocides closer to home?” says Raima Sen of her most recent Hindi release, The Children of War. It is not often that you watch a four- minute feature film trailer and find yourself taking a moment to breathe and process what you just saw. Based on events that occurred in 1971 involving the Pakistani military abducting and raping Bangladeshi women, this film comes with just such an effect.
“I’m playing Indraneil’s wife, who gets taken by the Pakistani forces. I’m representing that section of Bangladeshi women and what they go through,” the actress shares. Ask her if she feels the topical issue at the heart of the film has contemporary relevance and she responds, “The actual children of war are still fighting for justice and social acceptance even today in Bangladesh. And apart from them I’m sure there is something everyone can take back from what the movie is narrating.”
A glance over Raima’s work in Mumbai as well as Kolkata brings to notice the sheer variety of roles she has played over the years. Have content- driven characters and scripts always been her conscious lookout? “Not at all. My basic approach is simply to pick the best out of whatever I get, and that can be a role of any kind. I’ve been lucky that I’ve had the chance to work in some good films with some good directors,” she says and adds that a good script is not enough to convince her to take up a character. “I look at the director when I’m picking roles because sometimes no matter how good the script is, if your director is not sure, confident and clear about it, that same script can go completely haywire. I’ve done some movies like that in Bengal, I won’t name them, but I’ve become very careful about who is directing any script that I might take up,” she shares.
While Bollywood has always been her focus, the actress admits that a flourishing career in Bengali films gives her the space to pick and choose offers from Mumbai with care. “I don’t want to do rubbish in Bollywood just because I want to be there. I want to do good films with good directors. I’ve done some in the past and honestly, if I don’t get films like that in Mumbai any more I might as well work in Kolkata and do there the kinds of roles I want to do. Of course, if I get something really good in Mumbai I would love to do it,” says the actress among whose upcoming releases will be No Rules For Fools with Vinay Pathak and Mugdha Godse, and a biopic on her grandmother Suchitra Sen.
“Playing my grandmother is the role of a lifetime and I’m extremely nervous! People still love her so much and I’m really apprehensive about how they will take to my portrayal of her,” she concludes.