So many Kolkata things became my favourites for life: Divya Dutta

Divya Dutta has always had a special bond with Kolkata. One that goes back to her childhood and later reinforced when she worked with Shyam Benegal. The romance has continued, as the feisty actress finds herself coming back to the city – whether for a movie shoot or an event. On the occasion of CT’s 25th anniversary, here is Dutta’s love letter to the City of Joy.

I am going to take you back to your first trip to Calcutta. What was it like? What do you remember?

I think it was for a family wedding. I must have been about 13–14 years old. There was this thing – “kuch salon ke baad iski bhi shaadi yahin kara denge” – because I was absolutely underage. But my thing was to go to Howrah. We went there of course, to eat all the amazing street food and to sit on that rickshaw. I enjoyed it all.

Then I came back for work. The first time was for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero (Shyam Benegal) . I remember having visited Netaji Bhawan. Shyam Babu being Shyam Babu, took us around, made us feel the place. The most interesting thing was when we shot in the studios which had the entire legacy of Bengali cinema.

I was amazed that the photographs were still there. In every make-up room there were pictures of all the legends, the movie stills that had been shot there. And then there used to be the lunch break when everyone rested. I have never seen that culture anywhere. I was totally amazed.

Rest is very important, as any Bengali will tell you!

That became a habit for me actually. Now to date, when I have lunch, I have to rest – even if it is for 15 minutes. And the thing with Shyam Benegal was this - he introduced us to a lot of culture of every place. So if I had maachher jhol, he would tell me how it is made, its specialty. He was the one who introduced me to the rosogollas that too became my favourite. So many Kolkata things became my favourites for life, without me realising it.

I was there for a good two weeks, I think. We stayed at the Tollygunge Club and every evening we would go for walks by the lake. It was beautiful. We worked hard, partied harder. It was lovely.

Was that your most intense Kolkata experience?

Not really. I had more intense ones later. I did a film called Ram Singh Charlie, which we shot in Kolkata again. We were in a very crowded market. I don’t remember the name. Kumud (Mishra) and I were there. I remember clinging to Kumud because I didn’t know how it would go. Gradually I just felt a part of the crowd because between the shots I could hear snatches of people talking about their life. Everyone tells me I observe a lot. So I would observe the way they talk, who is going home, who has some personal issue, who is laughing. That entire culture, that entire lifestyle – everything just was so immersive. I can’t explain.

And we had jhalmuri between breaks. It was nice to just experience it as locals. Woh bahut mazedaar experience tha. Kumud played a rickshaw puller in that film. So experiencing it first-hand – him pulling the rickshaw and me sitting on it – was again very interesting. And of course, now I keep visiting for the literary fests.

That’s a completely different kind of engagement, right?

Absolutely. I remember we stayed near Park Street. I came during the New Year. Park Street was lit up and I wanted to go to Peter Cat – that restaurant known for the huge queue. Matlab woh pata nahi kaise taise karke we went in.

The best thing I love about Kolkata is the book culture. You still have books. You still feel the paper and the magic of it. In the world of digitalisation, what I love about Kolkata is that it maintains a beautiful balance between what we need to cherish and the progress that one makes.

In the world of AI, when you see books and when you see this, it feels really nice. Bahut accha lagta hai. And of course the phuchkas. To just experience everything that Kolkata has, right from the clubs and party places to the basics – I just felt really nice.

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