Actress Raima Sen is anxiously waiting for the audience reaction to her portrayal of Kadambari Devi, Rabindranath Tagore’s sister-in-law and inspiration behind many of the Bard’s poems, in a docu-feature on the poet by Rituparno Ghosh. Sen said that considering the intensity of the subject and the period look, she was keen to see how it all went.
“It is an intense role I haven’t done for a long time. I hope I have done justice to what Rituda had wanted of me,” Sen, who straddles both Bengali films and Hindi films, told PTI.
She said acting in the role was also a learning experience for her as she came to know Kadambari Devi better through her study of the persona which had an important role in Tagore’s life.
Kadambari Devi, whom Rabindranath Tagore addressed fondly as “Choto Bouthan”, had committed suicide shortly after Rabindranath’s marriage, but the reason for her extreme step was never known since the suicide note she had written was allegedly destroyed.
Her death had left Tagore so devastated that he went into a cocoon for sometime. Apart from the ‘challenging’ role of Kadambari Devi, the Bengali beauty has also launched herself into other roles, different from the coy and docile characters she so far played. “An example is my hippie-like character ‘Isani’ in Moinak Bhowmik’s “Maach Misti and More” which required me to act hippie mannerisms and walk and dress like them, though I didn’t have to wear beads and headgears.”
She says as she is stress-free, uninhibited and uncomplicated in real life, which sums up Isani’s character as well, essaying the character was not a big deal for her.
“I guess the unpredictability factor is constant for both. I have shades of a hippie, though obviously I was not around when they visited India. I picked it up from what I learnt and as told by the director,” Raima told PTI in one of her candid interviews. About Anjan Dutta’s new film Ganesh Talkies, where she is in one of the lead roles, Raima said she had been yearning to work with Anjanda after Bong Connection”. (PTI)