It was difficult to go bold: Nandana Sen

She’s back in the city on her usual hop-in hop-out visits between her home in New York and here. But this time actor Nandana Sen’s got a grin that won’t wipe off. “I finally had a chance to spend a lot of time with my father (famed economist Amartya Sen) in Boston…it was really lovely,” she says.

It’s also her work that’s got her on a high. “I’m really excited about Autograph — a tribute to one of my all-time favourite films, Satyajit Ray’s Nayok — that’s been accepted into festivals abroad. That apart, in London I collaborated with Italian writer-director Franco La Cecla on a film on the history of sensuality in Indian cinema. I also bought a small secondary home in New York —spent hours on the beach, listened to lots of live jazz, and was enchanted, as I am every summer, by Shakespeare in the Park!” she informs.

What’s more appealing about Autograph, she says, is the
characters that are ‘uncompromisingly real’. Does that take off from her personality? “Yes, I do also keep getting into trouble for speaking my mind,” she laughs.

With Rang Rasiya set to release later this year, she’s said to scorch the screen with her ‘bold’ look for it.  “It is a misconception that Rang Rasiya is filled with steamy ‘lovemaking scenes’,” she laughs, “the sensitive scene in question has nothing to do with lovemaking — it’s a critical moment in which the muse inspires the artist by posing for him, thus creating a masterpiece of art together. But it was a difficult decision to go bold. Personally, I’m quite a private, shy girl. The painter Raja Ravi Varma’s (she plays his muse) ‘heroines’ had certain physical patterns — the way they tilt their hip, play with their hands, peep through their lashes coquettishly — he painted very distinctive and evocative gestures into his women. There is one brief but key moment in the film that was difficult, but the biggest support here came from my family. And in dealing with censorship, how can I justify censoring myself?” she asks.

Nandana’s also playing a protagonist stalked by two men and a leopard in the American eco-thriller  The Forest. “It’s a thriller directed by Richard Dreyfuss’ partner.” So, is there any ideal role she would like to play? “I’m deeply drawn to classical characters,”  she ends.