Konkona Sen to comeback with 'Gaur Hari Dastaan’

Konkona Sen Sharma has begun her second innings in Bollywood.
The actor, who gave birth to son Haroon in March last year, started shooting for Ananth Mahadevan’s film titled “Gaur Hari Dastaan”. Konkona plays the wife of Odisha’s freedom fighter Gaur Hari Das, who fought for four years to free the country from the British rule and had to struggle for over 30 years in free India to prove that he’d done so to get a freedom fighter’s certificate!
Says Ananth, “When I had first read about Gaur Hari Das in The Times of India, I had found his story very interesting.The man is a metaphor for the times we live in. He did his bit for the freedom movement and this is what the country did for him. The very people for whom he fought didn’t acknowledge his contribution. That’s the irony of the situation. I understand that it’s uncannily timely to make a film on such a subject in India now.”
While Vinay Pathak is playing the role of Gaur Hari, Konkona is playing his wife Lakshmi Das. “Vinay does not have an image as such though he has been more associated with the comic roles that he has been doing in the recent past. However, I have always seen him as a thinking actor and as someone who can delve under the skin of a character. I believe in breaking images and that’s what I did with Sunil Shetty when I cast him in “Red Alert”. The most challenging part is that on-screen, Vinay’s character will see a growth from the age of 35 to 70 without using too much of make-up,” the director says.
As for Konkona, she was an obvious choice. Curiously enough, Konkona is supposed to have striking similarities in terms of looks with Lakshmi. “Konkona has met with her. Though she is more of a silent observer, Laksmi is strong person in her own way and provides the balance between Das and his son. The son had initially been disilluioned by his father. Konkona’s character is the balancing factor between two different schools of thought of the father and the son. His son had shifted to the US and obviously had a different approach to life. Konkona has the maturity to play such a character. I was overwhelmed by her performance in “Dosar” and the wide range of emotions she has portrayed in the film. The kind of film I am trying to make is subtle. I am not trying to preach,” he adds.
“She is more mature and complete now. The domestic changes in her life has perhaps made her see life differently. We had some workshops before we began shooting. On Sunday, she took to acting as if she had left it the day before. It didn’t take her any time to get back to the groove. The white streaks in her hair makes her resemble Lakshmi Das so much. On-screen, Koko has aged gracefully,” the director insists.
Meanwhile, Konkona’s husband, Ranvir Shorey, is also a part of the cast. But he has nothing to do with Konkona’s character. The director has merged two characters to create Ranvir’s role. In the film, he plays a newspaper reporter. Tannishtha Chatterjee is playing another reporter who also unearths Gaur Hari’s case.
Though Odisha is an important part of the movie, the film will not be shot in the State. “We have found locations closer to Mumbai that resemble the old Odisha. This story is very important because Odisha needs to feel proud of the son of its soil. Gaur Hari’s tale started off from Balasore. He had spent 180 days in a jail in Balasore. In the film, we will go back in the flashback mode and recreate the Balasore jail. For me, it’s important to show what the common man in the form of Gaur Hari was doing when India got independence. We will also be showing the countryside of Odisha in the film though we will not be shooting there.”
Gaur Hari himself has been very involved with the project. “He is touching 80. He has been with us since the beginning and has shared a wealth of information, including the files and correspondences that he had with the government. That’s enough for me to make five hours of cinema. It is a difficult task for me to pick and choose what I want to make this movie,” he signs off.
Was it difficult for Konkona to face the camera after her comeback? “She is more mature and complete now. The domestic changes in her life has perhaps made her see life differently. We had some workshops before we began shooting. On Sunday, she took to acting as if she had left it the day before. It didn’t take her any time to get back to the groove. The white streaks in her hair makes her resemble Lakshmi Das so much. On-screen, Koko has aged gracefully,” the director insists.