Indian cinema has always been bit middle-class Bengali: Vidya Balan

It���s quarter past noon and Vidya is busy canning a scene in a room of a huge mansion set created in the middle of nowhere for Srijit Mukherjee���s Begum Jaan. The nearest district headquarter, Dumka, is some 60 kilometres away and even the state highway is a long, rough ride away.
The scene being shot involves one of Vidya���s most powerful dialogues in the film, so it���s difficult to satisfy Srijit.He calls for many retakes; Vidya politely obliges. Amidst the grind, the actress takes some time out for CT and speaks about her character in the film and lots more. Experts:
Even before you signed up for Begum Jaan, you���d wanted to work with Srijit Mukherji. Which of his films did you like the most?
I���ve seen a little bit of Jatishwar and Autograph. I couldn���t watch the films in full, but I really like Srijit���s work. I want to work with all good directors and play wonderful characters. Whenever people ask me about Bengali directors, I always mention him because I���ve only heard good things about him.
So, what made you come on board Begum Jaan?
Srijit had approached me to do the original Rajkahini, but I couldn���t do it back then because I was on a break owing to ill health. But he approached me again for the Hindi adaptation. Once he narrated the story, I was left spellbound! Begum Jaan is an interesting amalgamation of a variety of characters and one will get to see shades of the likes of Rani Laxmi Bai, Meera Bai, Razia Sultan and even Rani Padmavati. Srijit has created a masterpiece kind of role and I just had to do it.
So you think that the masses will be able to identify with Begum Jaan as one of their own?
To tell the truth, I never think about whether my character will be liked by people or if they���ll come and see the movie. I play characters I enjoy playing. I don���t intend to give out any message to anyone through my movies because I feel films are supposed to entertain people and not preach. But if someone thinks about the movie and draws a message from it, I take it as a bonus. I don���t know whether Srijit or Bhatt Saab will agree with me, but I don���t think we are making Begum Jaan to send out any message. The only greed I have is to do good roles and hope people will enjoy watching me do it.
There is a lot of national interest in Bengali cinema at the moment. You must be clued into good films that are being made in Tollywood?
Among the current lot of directors, I regularly follow the works of Arindam Sil, Srijit Mukherji and Kaushik Ganguly. Among actors, the way Prosenjit da (Chaterjee) keeps reinventing himself intrigues me, considering the fact that there���s hardly any role left that he has not portrayed on screen. Still, he keeps on trying to do something new all the time. I���ve heard that he���s planning to do a TV series on legendary Bengali actor Uttam Kumar titled Mahanayak, which is again something new. Having said that, I think Bengali films have always inspired the rest of the nation. Legends like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, Tapan Sinha��� they all belong to this industry. I have watched all the movies of Satyajit Ray. I believe Indian cinema has always been a bit middle class Bengali. If you see old movies, you will realise that though the appeal is pan Indian, the settings have always been Bengali. I also believe Bengali cinema is undergoing a renaissance.
Have you watched Rajkahini? If yes, what did you like about the movie?
I���d watch it before signing up for this film, but never again. It was a conscious decision taken by both Srijit and I because we didn���t want to get influenced by the actor who played the role before. I wanted use my own imagination to create something new and unique.

How different are the two Begum Jaans (Rituparna Sengupta���s character in Rajkahini was also Begum Jaan)?
Let���s put in this way. A lot of people have tried to play Charlie Chaplin, but they all retained their unique flavour. It���s never the same. Similarly, there���s only one Begum Jaan. But what you���ll see on screen once the movie is released is a different interpretation of the role played by Ritu in Rajkahini. She had done a wonderful job in Rajkahini, something only an actor of her calibre could���ve pulled off. It was simply mesmerising.
Did you have to read up a lot on Partition to prepare yourself for the role?
All of us have read about Partition in history books, seen movies and listened to stories from various quarters. So, I believe, there���s hardly anyone who���s ignorant about this historical fact. However, Srijit did made me read Urvashi Butalia���s book, The Other Side of Silence. It made me realise the real implications of Partition on the psyche of people. In addition to reading, I���ve also watched a couple of movies like Tamas, which I���d seen long ago, 1947 Earth and others. Srijit also helped me a lot in grasping the gravity of the movie and we had long discussions over the script before going on the floors.
How is the experience of working with Naseeruddin Shah?
I was afraid of him earlier, but now we���ve discovered a sort of comfort level. I don���t hesitate anymore while shooting a scene, but behind the camera, I���m still a bit nervous talking to him. As for acting, all the characters we���ve played together, be it in Dedh Ishqiya, The Dirty Picture or Begum Jaan, the characters, the settings, the plot, all have been very diverse. Maybe because we have worked so much with each other now that everything simply falls into the groove.
And going by the storyline, the hero of this picture too, like previous ones, will be you���
(Laughs) Yes. You can say so. In fact, there is a dialogue in which Begum Jaan says, ���Apni sarkaar main khud hoon���. I firmly believe that his lady could have easily been manlier than any man known to history.
Is Srijit a tough taskmaster?
Yes. He is. But what I���ll say is that we���re actually shooting ahead of schedule, which is something new for me. I���ve never worked in a film that���s actually running ahead of its timetable. It���s usually the other way round. I think this is because of the thorough work Srijit has done on the entire thing. Everyone in the cast and crew perfectly know their roles, so I suppose, we���re expected to shoot three scenes a day and these are wrapped up quickly. So, we fluidly move on to the next ones.
This is your first trip to Jharkhand. Have you had the opportunity to do some sightseeing?
We are staying in Bolpur near Shantiniketan. The daily drive to the set, which takes around an hour, is nothing less than bliss. There���s so much greenery and the weather is just awesome! In fact, it���s sort of rejuvenating to breathe in the fresh air and watch stars at night ��� something next to impossible in cities like Mumbai because of pollution. I also visited the Massanjore dam, which is a lovely sight. But I���m yet to visit Dumka, which is further 40 km from the dam.