Free living

JITESH PILLAAI CONVERSES WITH THE BOHEMIAN BENGALI ACTRESS SWASTIKA MUKHERJEE

- JITESH PILLAAI

Swastika Mukherjee can be said to be controversy’s favourite child. The Bengali film industry is known for people who have danced to a distant drum and Swastika is one such person. Her affairs are as much talked about as her bold choice in roles. Hindi viewers know her through her femme fatale role in Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015) and the hit series Paatal Lok (2020). She’s a natural in front of the camera and is known to get under the skin of complicated characters with consummate ease. She calls herself an uncomplicated person in real life though and looks upon herself as a person who just goes with the flow. She’s also a single mother and has successfully balanced motherhood and career. Excerpts from a crackling interview with the fiery actress…

What are your Filmfare memories like?

Full of nostalgia because we have grown up watching Filmfare Awards. It has been a special part of our lives. Whenever it was telecast, we, me my family and friends, used to look forward to watching it. We got to know about new kind of hairstyles, makeup, clothes and jewellery. And the focus was on specific people like Rekha ji, Sridevi ji and Madhuri Dixit, all the icons of our time. I have two Black Ladies with me. Unfortunately, I was shooting abroad and wasn’t able to collect the first one in person.

What did you feel when you realized you had won the Best Actor award for Shaheb Bibi Golaam?

It was in 2017. I was shooting for a Marathi film in Budapest. I knew the award function was happening that day. I’d told everyone that if my phone were to ring or if some message was coming in, to make sure it reached me. I didn’t check my phone for half an hour because I was in the shot and then when I checked the phone, there were like so many notifications. So I understood that people were calling me to inform me that I’d won.