Destiny's child

I would love to have worked with Ingmar Bergman," Konkona Sen Sharma states. "And Satyajit Ray, and Charlie Chaplin." Konkona's dream of working with these greats will never come true. But she has worked with some of the best: Rituporno Ghosh, Aparna Sen, Vishal Bharadwaj, Madhur Bhandarkar, Anurag Basu-the list is impressive. Having taken home two National Award recognitions for her acting prowess, Konkona is sitting pretty today as one of the most talented actors in India.

Her doe eyes and unconventional looks, coupled with her impressive emotional range and strong body of work, are what make her popular today. Konkona, 30, the actor from West Bengal, represents the Indian cinema that speaks for intelligent acting. Daughter of filmmaker Aparna Sen and journalist Mukul Sharma, Konkona has successfully made a place for herself in contemporary Indian films. She burst into the national spotlight by playing Meenakshi Iyer, the Tamil Brahmin woman in Mr and Mrs Iyer (2002). Her powerful turn as Indu in Omkara made mainstream audiences sit up and take notice. The grand performance of her career so far, though, was her role as Mitali Gupta, the schizophrenic patient in 15 Park Avenue. Her steady stream of powerpacked performances has got her commercial and critical acclaim. She was even invited as a special guest at the dinner party hosted by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in honour of Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, in Delhi, this year. "Sheikh Hasina had met my mother in the past. She asked about my mother and spoke to me about my films," Konkona shares.

A student of Modern High School for Girls, Konkona feels that growing up in a city of art lovers was instrumental in exposing her to various forms of arts. And it was theatre that touched her the most. "Even in school, we could take part in theatre competitions organised by the British Council," she says. Konkona later moved to Calcutta International School, and then, after class 12, she left for Delhi for her graduation. Back in Kolkata after the degree exams, Konkona watched works of veteran theatre personalities, like Badal Sarkar, and became closely involved with the Odeon Theatre Festival. "I was also exposed to commercial theatre." Konkona's mother used to participate in various the Osian Film Festival offered great exposure during college."

Konkona made her debut as a child artist in Dinen Gupta's Indira (1983), a film based on Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay's novel. She got to share screen space with Aparna Sen and Soumitra Chatterjee. "I was four and half year old when I did the movie," she recalls. "People used to tell me stories around the sets, but I was too young to remember much." Then, she got the opportunity to work with Mithun Chakraborty in Titli (2002). "It was great fun," she says. "It was shot in the hills. With Rituparno Ghosh around, who is more like a family friend, it was a holiday."

Konkona gradually made her way into the Mumbai film industry, with noteworthy performances in movies like Mr and Mrs Iyer (2002), Dosar (2005), Page 3 (2005), Omkara (2006), Life in a Metro (2007) and Wake Up Sid (2009). With her experience in theatre, did Konkana find it easier to adjust to the film industry in Mumbai? "Not really. Both are different mediums and one can't prepare you for the other."

While talking to Konkona, it is impossible not to question her about the role her mother played in her professional life. Konkona has worked with mother Sen quite a few times. When asked how Sen is when she puts on the director's hat, Konkona says, "She is quite a tough director. But she is also affectionate and warm. She has lots of energy. She's extremely creative and totally committed to her work. And she looks forward to same commitment from the actor." Their pairing created magic in Mr and Mrs Iyer, with Sen directing and Konkona acting in the lead role, the very role that fetched her her first National Award. Recalling the preparation for her character, Meenakshi Iyer, Konkona says, "I went to Chennai and stayed with a Tamil Brahmin family to pick up their accent. Back in Kolkata, I attended an acting workshop with Rahul Bose."

The mother-daughter duo worked again in 15 Park Avenue. Konkona's rendition of a schizophrenia patient named Mithi was inspired and inspiring in equal measure. Directed by Sen, the cast included Waheeda Rehman, Shabana Azmi, Rahul Bose and Dhritiman Chatterjee. Konkona values the experience and considers the role as a rare opportunity in her career. "Among all the characters I have played so far, Mithi is my favourite. Apart from working with such a great team, I believed in the character. It's an original idea and very few people take risks to work on such a subject."

Iti Mrinalini, a bilingual film, is Konkona's next release. Mother and daughter team up again, this time to play the same character. Konkona plays the younger version of the titular Mrinalini, an actor from the '70s, while Sen plays the older role. "It's fascinating. I play my mother's younger version, an actor, which is her reality. We have worked hard on the look of the character," Konkona says. "I look forward to the release." And cinema buffs look forward to the magic Sen Sharma will no doubt create on-screen as Mrinalini

Master class Filmmaker Aparna Sen is defined by her strong convictions and passions. On motherhood, she says, "One of my fondest memories goes back a long way. It was raining hard and both my girls were stuck in school. The streets were flooded and my car could hardly wade through. When I reached Modern High School, Dona, my elder daughter, was holding on to Konkona. She saw me and turned to her friend, and said, 'See, I told you my mother would come!' This confidence, that I would be there for them come what may, gave me such a boost. Sen made her first movie, 36 Chowringhee Lane, an English political movie that was the birth certificate of a realistic film director who cares for details, though she focussed, in the beginning, at least, on women's issues. The film won The Grand Prix at the Manila Film Festival and the National Award for Best Direction in India. Her directorial work also includes memorable films such as Sati, Parama, and Yugant. Sen's films display her hallmark style. They use a form of easy realism that gives the audience an addictive pleasure of recognising themselves on screen. Rooms,clothes, speech, food, local references reflect an everyday world that falls in exactly with the images designed for a particular niche market. Apart from winning national and international awards at film festivals, Sen has won quite a few lifetime achievement awards. In fact, she feels the last 30 years have also been the most meaningful and busy years of her life.