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Preme Pora Baron brings out unseen side of me as an actor: Anindya Sengupta
Actor Anindya Sengupta, who is best known for X=Prem, Hostel Days, Niharika, showcases "hypermasculinity" in Arijeet Toton Chakrabarty's web series Preme Pora Baron, which releases on Addatimes on February 14. IBNS correspondent Souvik Ghosh interacts with Anindya on the series, Valentine's Day and more...
Q. What does Valentine's week mean to you?
A. Nothing basically (laughs). Valentine's day never held any significance in my life. Rather, it is significant that my project is getting released on that day this year. Once during my school days, I had received a letter but nothing more exciting. I never had a Valentine's date.
Q. Since you never opted for formal education in college, how were your days in early adulthood?
A. I had friends. I was surrounded by friends. Except for the fact that I was working and earning back then, there was not much of a difference. I had no love story in the age bracket of 19-21. I was single. I never had anything related to love.
Q. Were you a popular guy?
A. I was always loved by people. I have been fortunate enough to receive unadulterated love from people. In fact, in some cases, I haven't loved them back to the intensity I have received. I have had the privilege of being loved unconditionally by a lot of people.
Q. How was exploring a character which is diametrically opposite to your personal self?
A. The socio-economic and socio-cultural scenes shown in X-Prem as well as Hostel Days were more or less relatable to me. I have portrayed characters which are different from me as well. But in Preme Pora Baron, it was an advantage to play such a character, which is toxic. No one has seen this side of me before. Even my roughest expression of anger is very much different from the person I play in this series.
Rono wears his anger on his sleeves. I believe Rono feels he has the right to be toxic because he faced toxicity in childhood. In this case, if I was being rude and angry all the time, I could try and use traits and mannerism like that. The challenge would be the next time I play a similar character to avoid repetition.
Q. Did you feel that Preme Pora Baron's theme can be compared to Kabir Singh?
A. Yes, I did. When it is about showing 'toxic masculinity' in films, Kabir Singh has remained the benchmark. So it has been a reference. I haven't coincidentally watched Kabir Singh but I have seen some glimpses of it. But I haven't tried to take any cue from Shahid Kapoor (the lead actor in Kabir Singh) to play the role because of the lack of time and resources we have in this industry. As an actor, I am right now not tending to intellectualise things a lot because it's also my job. I would try to understand the vision of the storyteller and deliver to the best of my capabilities.
Q. You told us earlier that your friends keep you grounded. How was their reaction to you featuring in Kadak Singh briefly?
A. They keep me grounded. Honestly, many people nationally haven't noticed me in Kadak Singh considering the little screen time I had. I don't take myself that seriously. Everything in life is transient. My friends' approach towards me has remained the same and I like it.
(Images by Avishek Mitra/IBNS)
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