'I Never Wanted To Become An Actor'

'Once I started acting, I gradually started liking it and the perks that come with it.'

There has been a lot of talk lately about Indraneil Sengupta and his divorce from his wife of 14 years, Barkha Bisht.

But the actor chooses not to focus on that and instead, look at his latest film, the Bengali release Puratawn, which co-stars Sharmila Tagore.

"When I went on the set and met Sharmilaji for the first time, I was a little apprehensive. But she's such a warm person and that whole aura about her... she made everyone feel comfortable, so it was very easy working with her," Indraneil tells Subhash K Jha.

You have been in the news for a very public divorce.

My divorce is in court right now; it's a sub judice case, so I would prefer not to talk about it.

I do not believe in being vocal about things because I do not understand the concept of a public trial.

I choose to keep quiet.

How do you view your journey as an actor so far?

I love my journey in this industry because I have gradually grown.

I started off as a model, then I got into acting because that was the logical thing to do.

I never wanted to become an actor but once I started acting, I gradually started liking it and the perks that come with it.

But I was not really into the craft of acting till a very later stage in life.

I guess in the last five-six years, I have really got hooked on to the art and have been exploring it much more.

I am loving this phase of my life.

I get to explore so much; I am at the best stage of my life now.

How did you bag this role in Puratawn?

Director Suman Ghosh called and said that he wanted to narrate a script to me.

I landed up at his place and then he narrated this beautiful script, which had this amazing character called Rajeev.

I thought I would fit into this role.

In addition to that, he told me that Rituparna Sengupta's company is producing it. I was excited about that too because I have collaborated with Ritu on about six films and it has always been a pleasant experience to work with her.

How was the experience of working with Sharmila Tagore?

The final 'carrot' came my way when he told me that Sharmilaji will be making a comeback into Bengali films after 14 years with this.

I was thrilled to know that I would be a part of her comeback film.

Most of your scenes are with Sharmilaji and Rituparna. That must have made Puratawan a happy experience?

Yes. When I went on set and met Sharmilaji for the first time, I was a little apprehensive. But she's such a warm person and that whole aura about her... she made everyone feel comfortable, so it was very easy working with her.

I think actors thrive in that environment which Sharmilaji provides by being so nice.

Which of your projects so far do you consider to be important?

I have done quite a few projects in Hindi and Bengali, one in Marathi as well.

The Hindi projects that I have been associated with and would be most remembered are Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani and Anubhuti Kashyap's Dr G.

Vikram Bhatt's 1920 was one of the earlier films that I did.

I have done quite a bit of OTT like Human on JioHotstar, Aranyak on Netflix, Broken News on ZEE5, Aarya on JioHotstar and a few more.

These are the memorable ones that I have really enjoyed.

And in Bengali?

In Bengali, I have done a lot of good films. The ones really mentionable would be Arekti Premer Golpo, directed by Kaushik Ganguly and co-starring Ritupurno Ghosh.

Then there was Srijit Mukherjee's Autograph and Mishor Rohoshyo as well as Buddhadev Dasgupta's Janala.

Purawatan is one of the biggest films I have been a part of. It's a very important film for me in terms of the performance that Suman Ghosh has been able to extract out of me, plus the space the film has given me, the audience it has reached out to.

Tell us about your forthcoming projects.

I have done a film directed by Tannishtha Chatterjee, co-starring Kirti Kulhari, Sharib Hashmi and Monica Dogra. The post-production is over and now they are looking at a festival release.

I am keen on seeing how the audience takes it.

I have a film with Ajay Devgn Production, which will probably release in a month or two. It's called Maa and Kajol is the protagonist.

There is a Bengali film called Goodbye Mountain, with Rituparna. It may be out in a month or so.

I did a Netflix film called Chor Nikal Ke Bhaaga a couple of years back. There will be a sequel to it; we will start shooting in September-October.

You have been a part of television, cinema and OTT. Which platform do you enjoy the most?

Every platform that I have worked on has given me something, be it television, cinema or OTT.

But I have always maintained that I liked cinema the most because it provides you with that space and that luxury of time to delve into characters, to work on roles more, to get into the nuances of a character or a scene.

Television doesn't give you that because it is constrained by deadlines and budgets. You have to churn out episodes, so you do not get much time to get into details.

But cinema also has limited scope because there are so many actors but only a particular number of films are being made in a year. So the number of actors getting absorbed may be a little lesser than how much television absorbs throughout the year.

I guess OTT gives you the best of both the worlds?

OTT is the saving grace.

It has great content and is comparable to cinema at times.

There is some OTT content that is better than cinema.

All the good actors are doing it, so there are good makers and good quality work happening.

I love being an actor on OTT because I get to work with brilliant makers, brilliant actors and learn everyday.

So OTT is the most practical and promising medium for me now.

At the same time, if something nice and relevant in cinema is offered to me, I would jump at it.

I'm not looking at television for the time being because I enjoy the other two mediums more.