Sameera Reddy: “Working With Buddhadeb Dasgupta Reaffirmed My Faith In Me”

Sameera Reddy  had the privilege of  working in  two Bengali films Ami Yasin  Ar Madhubala in 2007 and Kalpurush in 2008.

“Kalpurush changed  my  attitude  to my career and my self-esteem. Please remember I  was a glamorous actress in Mumbai. I had done Sanjay Gupta’s Musafir. I wanted  to know   how  Buddhada  thought  of me   in the role of Supriya, Rahul  Bose’s unhappy wife  in Kalpurush. It  needs  a visionary filmmaker to  see  an actor in a role that seems very removed from her real personality or her on-screen image.”

Did  Sameera  ask the  filmmaker why he thought of her  ? “Not really. Buddhada was a  man of few words. He  hardly spoke. You can  see the  importance of  silence in his cinema. There are  long stretches  of  no dialogue  in his films.There were  beautiful unspoken passages  between his characters. I shared  a mentor-pupil relationship with him. I would strain to hear when he  talked.  He said  so little, it  was like  a  treat when he  spoke,” Sameera laughs , remembering  the standing  ovation Kalpursh  got   in Cannes.

“I got  goosebumps when  the film received  a standing  ovation in Cannes. I get goosebumps now thinking about it. He was a big favourite among international audiences. And Kalpurush is  regarded among his  finest works.I am so proud to be  part  of  it.”

Was  the Bengali language  a problem for Sameera? “Not at  all. In fact my recently husband asked me  what was it like to work in cinema in  so many languages and  I told  him Bengali was the easiest to  learn,maybe because Buddhada was such a great teacher. He  would sit me down, coach me in the nuances of Bangla. From him, I learnt about the  food, the culture of  Bengal and how Bengali women  wore their saree.”

As for  her other film with  Dasgupta Ami, Yasin Ar Amar Madhubala  Sameera says, “That was  a much lighter film in tone.It was  about Prosenjeet Chatterjee and his friend(Amitabh Bhattacharya)  becoming fascinated  by my character. I learnt  a lot more in Kalpurush.  But it was because  of   Ami, Yasin Ar Amar Madhubala  that  Buddhada came to  me for Kalpurush, That he   found  it worth his while to repeat  me  within a  year  said something about my abilities as actor.Buddhada  affirmed my faith in myself. For that  I will be  always grateful. I did stay in touch with  him  . But he wasn’t somebody I could think of calling for a casual chat. One  doesn’t  gossip with a genius.”