Madhabi Mukherjee returns to shoot after two years with a solo performance

Veteran actress Madhabi Mukherjee stepped on the shooting floors after a hiatus of more than two years on Friday. The pandemic and its threat, directed especially towards the elderly, kept her away from doing what she loves best. "We are all going through a very difficult phase in life. Battling the pandemic is not easy, what with constant death news of family, relatives, friends and colleagues shaking you up every day," she rued.
When asked in a time like this, how did she manage to keep her safe on the sets, she said, "Always keeping yourself safe, especially for actors like us, is not really possible. I obviously couldn't wear a mask during the shots. But I used sanitisers generously and the entire unit had their masks on, especially those not required in the frame. We did what we could do best," she shared.

The actress is extremely saddened by the lives claimed by

Covid

. "Recently, on hearing about the demise of Lata Mangeshkar, Sandhya Mukhopadhyay and Bappi Lahiri, I gave a lot of interviews to news channels. It was disheartening to speak about them in the past tense and very tiring for me at this age. I became unwell myself while giving my responses," she said, adding, "I also heard about the demise of Sukumar, who would take lovely still photos, and a makeup artiste I knew well. It breaks my heart."
Madhabi agreed that in such times of despair, it's cinema and all forms of art and culture that keeps people alive and distracted from the surrounding drudgery. "People get some amount of respite through our work and we all learn to accept life and get used to its pitfalls. The film with which I returned to work after these two years also talks about Covid and how it has affected my character. It's a solo performance in a short film and I enjoyed acting in it," she said.
The actress, known for her classics with Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak and Tapan Sinha, didn't feel any difference in her approach for feature films and short films. "This film by Promita Bhowmik is my first short. I really liked her brain and hard work behind the shots. There were several takes, minute scrutiny and no hurrying with the shooting. I didn't feel my approach towards acting had changed for this particular role. Feature or short, my work remains same. Rest is up to the director. I have worked with stalwarts as well as newcomers, and have always given my best," she signed off.