I’m not offered wicked roles: Konkona Sen (Interview)

NEW DELHI - Enough of goodie goodie roles for Konkona Sen Sharma. The two-time National Award winner says she enjoyed playing a sexually aggressive woman in Vinay Shukla’s “Mirch” and laments that not too many such roles come her way.

“The roles that I get offered are very good and of serious women who are morally upright, righteous and honest. But I was dying to do this one (’Mirch’). I never get offered this kind of roles,” Konkona told IANS in a telephonic chat from her Mumbai home.

Dealing with the libido of women who have an uncontrollable urge for sex, the Big Pictures production hit the screens Friday. Stringing together four stories, the movie has the actress playing the lead in two of them.

“These women have an element of wickedness which I really enjoy playing. For that matter I enjoyed playing two wicked women in the movie,” quipped the actress, who turned 31 early this month.

But, for that matter, wasn’t there a sense of wickedness in her National Award winning role in “Omkara” already?

“Wickedness! Really?” she questioned in an astonished tone. “I think, of everybody else (in the movie) she was the nicest. She didn’t kill anybody. I was the only person who was clean. She was not at all wicked,” said the actress, who also has to her credit acclaimed performances in “Page 3″, “Traffic Signal”, “Life in a…Metro” and “The President Is Coming”.

But she has been an active member of the so-called independent, art house and parallel cinema. Ask the dusky beauty if that was deliberate or she was simply offered these roles, and she skips answers diplomatically.

“It’s a bit of both, you know… I do get offered some sensible roles also, but the ones that I have liked have turned out to be like these (defined genres) usually,” said Konkona, who also won laurels for her performance in “Luck By Chance” and “Wake Up Sid”.

“I do get offered all kind of films by and large, but the bulk of it I may say is of a certain sensibility. But…not always. O god, I can’t even say that,” she confessed childishly.

Daughter of renowned Bengali actress-filmmaker Aparna Sen, she inherited her cerebral prowess and on-screen skills from her doting mother.

Having worked in her directorial ventures like “Mr. and Mrs. Iyer”, “15 Park Avenue” and the recent “Iti Mrinalini”, the daughter has taken a fancy to teaming up with her mother.

“I love working with my mother. I have a huge amount of respect and admiration for her. She is one of the best filmmakers and she has always given me absolutely fantastic roles. I am privileged to work with her,” said the actress who recently tied the knot with long term beau Ranvir Shorey.

In the family way, Konkona is on a sabbatical from the big screen.

“I am actually on a break. I won’t be starting anything new till the half of next year. So as of now, I have ‘Mirch’ and ‘Iti Mrinalini’ releasing this year and I’ve done a cameo in ‘Saat Khoon Maaf’,” she said.

Isn’t she missing acting? “I miss working and I am looking forward to working again soon,” said KoKo, as she is fondly called.

Jog your memory hard and what strikes you is that the actress also made her directorial debut with the Bengali short film “Naamkoron” in 2006. So any plans to go a step further into feature film direction some day?

“Oh, I’d love to at some point, but there are no firm plans yet,” said the St. Stephen’s College alumnus, who misses the “beautiful Delhi winters”.

(Robin Bansal can be contacted at robin.b@ians.in)