If I am marooned on an island, it'd be with Jeet: Ritabhari

According to Jeet, Ritabhari Chakraborty’s performance in Raj Chakraborty’s upcoming film, Shesh Theke Shuru, is by far her best. As the team gears up for this Eid release, we chat up the young actress and here’s what she has to say about the film, her experience of working with Jeet, Koel Mallick, Raj and more. Excerpts…
We don’t get to see you in many commercial films. Tell us about your experience of working in this film.
I come from a family of very serious filmmakers. Both my mother (Satarupa Sanyal) and father (Utpalendu Chakrabarty) are national awardees. They never intended to make anything of commercial genre. The environment of parallel cinema at home kept me away from even wanting to do a commercial film. I personally enjoy all kind of films. I think whatever happens, happens for the best, as Shesh Theke Shuru is a very special film for me.
Tell us about your character. How did you prepare yourself for the role?
I play Farzana. She is beautiful, confident, powerful and very bold with her words. You cannot anticipate what she is going to do next. I had no reference point as I personally do not know anyone who has been this crazy in love other than a few in Bollywood films. Mahid (the character played by Jeet) means a world to her. She has grown up looking at and longing for Mahid. She cannot see anything beyond him. So, everything she does is driven by her love for Mahid. Rajda and I built a character arc together, so that I could actually feel like Farzana on the sets. Rajda was very clear about how he wanted his Farzana. And following his vision was easy.
How is Raj Chakrabarty as a director? Is he strict or nice and indulging?
He is very, very nice! It never felt like we were working for the first time. He is sweet. He knows what he wants. He is definitely one of my favourite directors.
Tell us about your experience of working with Jeet.
Jeetda is phenomenal. No wonder he is working on his 50th film and still holds the position right on the top. He made me extremely comfortable on the floors. I never felt for a moment that this was our first project together. And I would urge people, who say stardom is not the same as acting, to watch this film. Jeet is phenomenal in the film’s climax. While I cannot reveal any further, I would want everyone to watch the sequence minutely. I just hugged him after we shot that. He rendered us speechless!
And Koel?
Koeldi is “the queen”. Most of the time, I would go speechless looking at her beauty on the floor. She is a sorted person. She has always been supportive of me and my work.
If you are marooned on an island, who would you like to be with among these three celebrities — Jeet, Koel and Raj?
Jeet. Go and ask anyone… A million other woman will have the same answer!
People often see you as an enterprising woman. You write, read, paint and travel. How do you manage time? And what do you enjoy the most?I am workaholic. I work for about 14-18 hours a day. And then, when it gets too much, I travel. However, I’d like to change that pattern. Now, I want a better lifestyle for my well-being. I really enjoy acting. I am in a profession, which gives me the liberty to do so many things and be at so many places! I enjoy producing too, as that is my key to put all these wonderful people together and create magic. I have managed to have Ayushmann Khurrana, Kalki Koechlin, Swanand Kirkirkire, Anupam Roy, Anurag Kashyap, Rajat Kapoor, Parambrata Chatterjee and many others to work with me in my production and intend to do that in future too. Also, the financial independence it gives you is so essential for a woman in a male-dominated industry like this.