Gulshanara Khatun: “Audition is a practice, but it’s not customary in Kolkata; it’s everywhere in the rest of the world”

1. How did your Acting journey begin?

Ans – Class 3, through theatre. I would say I found interest more in theatre than on-screen acting. So yes, I have loved the dalliance of theatre since childhood.

2. Do you consider yourself a proper ‘Bong Girl’?

Ans – Not Bong but Bangali! Born and brought up in South Kolkata – ‘Machhe Bhate Bangali.’

3. What comes to mind when you hear ‘Childhood’?

Ans – It’s the first day of school! I have a water bottle hanging around my neck, and inside the tiffin box, there is one sandwich and two sweets. I am so talkative and hyperactive that I was admitted to school earlier than the other kids my age. They used to call me Liliput.

4. What’s your favorite project to date?

Ans – ‘Kabuliwala,’ ‘Kadak Singh’ and a special theatre project close to my heart,’Kothader Bioscope’,but one of the lead actors in the project, our friend Prasenjit, died in 2020. After that, we decided not to continue the project without him.

5. How was the experience working in Bombay in ‘Kadak Singh’?

Ans – Casting directors Prantik and Abhishek Da posted an audition post on their Instagram. Height: 5’5′-5.7′, Stout figure, fluent Hindi actress needed for a senior officer role. I am neither too short nor too tall. Still, I went there informally as Prantik asked me to come for an audition. Audition is a practice, but it’s not customary in Kolkata; it’s everywhere in the rest of the world. Auditioning is not shameful – only the director sees how an actor acts for the particular character. My audition went well, but I was not hoping for the selection. After 1.5 months, I got a call from Bombay regarding my selection. I was numb for a few minutes when I learned that Pankaj Tripathy would play the lead. He’s one of the most admiring actors in my life.

6. Work Culture of Bombay?

Ans – ‘Kadak Singh’ is my first Bollywood project, so I can’t judge the whole Bombay ecosystem based on that. However, the team I worked with was very disciplined. Half of the people from the camera team belonged to Kolkata. Even the cloud characters were treated nicely, which is very unusual in Kolkata. Her people treat junior artists like animals!

7. Name of your favourite actor you have worked with?

Ans – Ritwick Da! Ritwick Chakraborty in Gora, as I got more screen timing with him than Pankaj Tripathy in ‘Kadak Singh’.

8.  Name the directors you want to work with?

Ans – Anurag Kashyap, Imtiaz Ali, Vikram Aditya Motwane, Indranil Roy Chowdhury, Tarantino, Martin Scorsese. I may sound a bit crazy, but it’s alright.

9. What do you like to do the most besides acting?

Ans – Firstly, traveling. I’m a solo traveler. Then comes reading, watching films, gardening, and painting.

10. What’s your favorite genre of cinema, or what kind of movies do you like to watch?

Ans – Not typical Bollywood, Hollywood but horror, war films, and psychological thrillers like ‘Mulholland Drive’.

11. What’s your hidden talent?

Ans – Mimicry! Suppose I meet with some people on shoot. After coming back home, I show their mimicry to my close ones. I’m grumpy from the outside, so I only do this in front of my close ones; otherwise, in my mind, I mimic them.

12. Name one thing you like and don’t like about the Bengali Film Industry.

Ans – Nepotism is the one thing I don’t like about the industry. It exists in both, but in Bollywood, people have to work alongside nepotism. One thing about the Bengali Film Industry is that I get to work in my mother tongue.

13. Have you faced a casting couch?

Ans – I’m from Jadavpur University, and at the same time, I look grumpy from the outside. That’s why people maintain a sudden distance from me. But, what happened to me is sometimes, in the middle of the night, people called me to have a chit chat, and also people asked me for coffee dates. These steps are not necessary to make a film. I should be cast because of my acting skills. Talking overnight unnecessarily on phone calls and going on coffee dates to get a role in a film shows less self-esteem as an actor.

14.  Tell me about your upcoming projects!

Ans – It’s a completely independent project of mine. It’ll be released during puja on YouTube. But I can’t reveal whether it’ll be an audiobook, vlog, or interview. It’ll be something related to our childhood.

15.  Introvert or Extrovert?

Ans – It depends on the other person in front of me! I usually talk with my pets a lot. I talk to my cats and fish—Vidyasagar, the one fish that moves around the light inside the aquarium all the time!

16. Are you a family person?

Ans – A Bohemian by soul and a family person by nature.

17. Is there any special person in your life?

Ans – Yes! Collage-mate of Jadavpur University to lovers. He’s into academics.

18. Name anyone from the film industry you want to take on a date.

Ans – For a coffee date, I would like to choose Vikrant Massey for a dinner date, R. Madhavan, and for cocktails, Naseeruddin Shah.(Laughs)

19. ‘Settling down in life’ What does this phrase mean to you?

Ans – At the end of the day, I know I have a place to return. My partner and I choose not to be biological parents in the future, but we’re pet parents. We have a lot of kids to look after who stay near the Golpark petrol pump, and we feel contained with them.

20. Rate yourself as an actor!

Ans – Out of 10, I rate 6 myself as an actor. There is much to explore, and there should be a place for betterment and growth. But as an actor compared to other contemporaries, I’ll give myself 10.5 out of 10! (laughs)