Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I worked hard to reach where I am and I certainly don't want to lose my grip over either Bengali or Hindi cinema.
I shampoo and condition my hair regularly. Hair spas too are very relaxing, but I hardly get time to go for them.
Always highlight the eyes with kajal. Brush your hair neatly and never step out of home without a touch of lipstick.
It is a challenge to portray to women of different generations and their complexities and hopes and agonies as a woman.
I am, in fact, enamored by Lucknow with all its minarets and its monuments. It is a place where you can get lost in the old world.
Look at the vast range of roles portrayed by Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, or say Halley Berry. Their works are now my inspiration.
I have been fortunate at being part of a contrasting genre of films and I portrayed a huge range of characters in these two decades.
If you want to eat something, go ahead, but make sure that you balance it out. Don't deprive yourself, after all you get only one life.
I feel I like portraying women-centric roles, since I can express pent-up frustrations and suppressed feelings lying deep inside a female soul.
I am sure it will connect with the masses. 'Good Morning Sunshine' has beautiful script, great actors and a very sensitive director, Sanjoy Nag.
Bengali and Malayalam industries are driven by sensible and subtle stories that people can relate to due to the states' literary and cultural heritage.
Women are much tougher than men in so many ways. I would say, mentally, they are stronger. In terms of physical pressure, they can withstand a lot too.
Believe me, I've never trained in acting. All the fluidity, the confidence you may see on screen comes from my stage performances in school and college.
If I am going to a party at a friend's place, I wear jeans with ethnic kurtis. And if it's a semi-formal occasion, then I would wear a skirt and a jacket.
Christmas has always been very special to all of us and we used to look forward to the Christmas holidays. Those were very beautiful days in my childhood.
I've done a lot of Bengali films with heavyweights like Rituparna Ghosh, Buddhadeb Das Gupta and carved my niche with both commercial as well as art films.
Over the past few years, I've acted in movies such as 'Teen Kanya,' 'Charuulata 2011' and 'Muktodhara,' which have all been told from a woman's perspective.
The audience had a huge expectation from me in Bengal, and now in Hindi also people have started expecting from me because they know I am a senior actor from Bengal.
I don't want to get confined to only regional cinema as I want to exploit my potential. I want to perform challenging roles in a much more complex sphere like Bollywood.
I have always devoted time and energy to Tollywood because Bengal is very important to me. But I want to concentrate equally on Hindi cinema because that's where all the action is.
In fact, the Bengali film industry is becoming more balanced between creativity and commercialization. And if Bollywood can remake south Indian and Hollywood films, why can't we do so!
I've had the fortune of working with a large Malayali crew in Priyadarshan's 'Bumm Bumm Bole' and Ajay Verma's 'SRK,' which is a Hindi remake of Sreenivasan's 'Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala.'
Many people think I am workaholic. Sometimes I feel guilty that I have missed out many moments as my daughter and son growing up, but balancing between home and work is extremely important.
I am overwhelmed to be a mentor of Kolkata Endeavour Society to encourage and support the initiatives towards helping the people who are in need and thus, do our utmost bit to save humanity.
Of course the COVID situation is ghastly and undesirable, but I cannot ignore the fact that this gave me a chance to spend what I think is the maximum time in my life with my husband and children.
I am very much a product of commercial cinema in Tollywood, and people ask me why I don't do masala films in Hindi. I am very eager to do them, but somehow I am perceived as a serious actress here.
I do light exercise which includes yoga, suryanamaskar and weight training followed by breakfast which includes some fruits or boiled vegetables with a glass of either pineapple or pomegranate juice.
My son taught me a few tricks about card games and Rishona spent time painting with me. She would also make us dalgona coffee at times. These small joys of family life have made me a very happy person.
Our industry often writes an actress off after she gets married. I gave hits before getting married, after getting married, after having my first child, after having my second child and continue to do so.
I want people, who don't care about their partners be treated harshly. Marriage is supposed to be a bond of love and affection. Women should start thinking independently when it comes to issues like rape.
I think Ma Durga will eradicate all that is there and help us rebuild our confidence and our society as a whole. She will take away the pain caused by Covid 19 and will stop the disease from taking any more lives.
Puja brings lots of things together and it isn't just about the religious aspect. Blessings from elders, family-bonding, togetherness... it's about all that. It's also about colors, grandeur and people coming together.
I had no choice initially as an actress to get a break in Bollywood. Moreover, in those days, I was just feeling my way through Bollywood. I almost felt like an intruder, as I was not familiar with the ways of the industry.
'Begum Jaan' was such a very different zone for me. After the filming was complete, I got immersed in voice modulation. I had to shout my lungs out into the microphone and then dub for it to get that hoarseness in my voice.
I still remember my father would bring lovely cakes for all of us from 'Flurys' in Calcutta. My mom used to love fruit cake while I loved cream pastries and to please both of us, he would get that and all kinds of savories too!
There were days when I felt low and depressed. But I made sure not to harbor those feelings. To overcome that, I used to take a walk and speak to my bunch of friends. I even read up on mental health apart from some Bengali novels.
Some felt my looks would not go down with the Bengali audience. They felt I was not photogenic. Others felt I was just what Bengali cinema needed when there was lack of glamour for heroine roles and there were few leading ladies around.
You need talent, dedication, skills, perseverance and so many other things to become successful. If you think you are very talented but someone needs to unveil your talent, then you are living in a fool's paradise. You have to prove yourself every day.
When we were growing up, Christmas used to be very different and Santa Claus used to come to us with so many gifts and we'd have a whole bunch of gifts waiting at our bedside. I still remember the thrill that we felt when we would open the wrapped gifts.
Our biggest learnings come only from the biggest blows, hence, I'd request one and all to look out for the silver linings and focus on positive thoughts and ideas, because as I always say, every cloud has a silver lining, and every sunset ends with a beautiful sunrise.
Despite explaining that it's just a mechanical process, my husband, Sanjay, would initially ask whether an intimate shot was very necessary. I invited him over to the sets when I shot those scenes, but he never came over. I admit that there have been fights over this issue too.