Shweta Basu back at the movies as her Bengali film releases next month
Actress Shweta Basu Prasad had some good films under her name, such as Makdee and Iqbal, which made her famous as one of the best child actors in the country. However, a few months ago, her name got dragged into an ugly controversy and everyone was reminded of her again, this time not in a good light. But she came out strong from that dark phase and now she is counting days to be back on the big screen. A Bengali film she had worked on years ago is finally finding release in the theatres on August 14. The film is titled Ek Nadir Galpo.
A visibly excited Shweta tells us, “I am very happy this film is releasing. It will be in theatres after nine years. It had to be released long ago. I shot for it when I was 15 and now I am 24. I am also excited because I haven’t seen the film in the last years. The last time I saw it was during the festival screenings in 2007. It’s a film I am very proud of. Also, it’s the only Bengali film I have done so far.”
At that time Ek Nadir Golpo was screened at several film festivals and had got a great response. The actress doesn’t seem to know why the release got so massively delayed. “I have known the director Samir Chanda since my Makdee days, as he was a production designer in that film. He was one of the reasons this film happened for me. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2011 and I think that could be one of the major reasons behind the delay. But I really don’t know what exactly led to the delay.”
The film also stars Mithun Chakraborty, Nirmal Kumar, Anjan Srivastav and Jisshu Sengupta. Jisshu was last seen in the superhit film Piku that was directed by Soojit Sircar. Currently, Shweta is working with Anurag Kashyap’s Phantom Films as a script consultant. She spends most of her days reading scripts and giving inputs. As part of her job, she has to go through every script that is pitched to the production house.
“Anurag and I have known each other for a while now. He wanted to recruit me in 2010. At that time I had my board exams and I couldn’t take up this job.” Ask her about her plans to get back into acting and she says, “I have been working here as a script consultant for the past eight months. I wouldn’t say that films are not being offered to me but nothing exciting so far. And I am in no hurry that I’ll take up a film that doesn’t excite me.”
The actress has made a documentary on Indian classical music titled Roots. Talking about what’s keeping her busy apart from work she says, “I have become an avid reader because of all the scripts that I read every day. Actually, it has helped me as an actress as it gives you a good sense of evaluation about the story.”
And has Phantom offered her any script yet? She quips, “I would surely love to work with them on a project. Anurag has been very encouraging. If I have to go for auditions, he allows me to go in between my work. As I said, I am in no rush and I am happy with my current job.”
