Ritu in confession mode

First things first, Rituparno Ghosh���s sexual orientation has got nothing to do with the role of the homosexual film-maker he is playing in Kaushik Ganguly���s Just Another Love Story.
Ritu says, ���There���s so much interest in this film because I���m playing a gay film-maker but everyone has assumed I���m playing a real character. The film is not about me.Why are journalists trying to find scandal in an actor���s life through the character he plays? The subject matter on sexual orientation is far more important than the strange connections that are being made between the film and my life. I find it distinctly distasteful that the actor���s sexual orientation is being extended into the character he���s playing. At least I���m courageous enough to confront my own sexuality. I don���t need to engage in an art form to address my sexuality. It���s indecent and humiliating.���
Ritu plays a double role in Just Another Love Story. One is that of Abhiroop Sen, a gay documentary film-maker from Delhi, whose bisexual lover is the DOP of the film in the film. They visit Kolkata to make a documentary on the life of the real-life legendary jatra actor Chapal Bhaduri. Ritu also essays the role of Chapal in his youth.
Ritu was initially apprehensive about the role but was convinced of the director���s motives after watching his telefilm on a lesbian couple. ���To play two parts, that of the director Abhiroop Sen and Chapal in his youth wasn���t easy. Abhiroop is neither a man nor a woman, he belongs to the third sex. As for Chapal, he always felt that he was a woman trapped in a man���s body. These two different concepts of androgyny and sexual identity had to be brought out. There���s no external factor of femininity in Chapalda. Only when he speaks do we hear a woman���s voice. I loved the two roles because they challenge the stereotypical image of gay men,��� says Ritu.
Ritu insists that he doesn���t want to play gay roles any more. ���I liked the process of acting but I���ve the fear of being typecast in homosexual characters. One reason why I did this role is because I knew any other actor would make a spoof of it. You can���t play gay if you have no empathy for homosexuality. Indraneil Sengupta and I have played the gay couple with such ease. Those looking for tantalization will be disappointed. They���ll find us disappointingly normal,��� says Ritu.
Ritu had to undergo extensive preparation for the role. ���I had to look very delicate for the role for which I lost 14 kgs. I had to undergo an abdominal plasty because after losing weight, my stomach sagged. The waistline had to be proper because I was playing a man 10 years younger than I am. The surgery wasn���t easy with my blood sugar problem. I also had to learn to smoke, which was horrifying,��� says Ritu.
Rituparno thinks that Indian actors shy away from gay roles. ���I think actors who refuse homosexual roles are homophobic and probably latent homosexuals. They aren���t afraid to play rapists but they���re scared of playing gays. When I offered Aftab Shivdasani and Kunal Kapoor a gay role, they freaked out.���
On the day that Rituparno first got into women���s clothes to play Chapal it was Ritu���s birthday. He says, ���I went to my father to take his blessings. He looked at me and said I looked exactly like Ira (my mother) when she was young.���
Chapal Bhaduri, now 75, plays himself in the film. ���I play his young avatar and I also play the film-maker who���s come to do a candid interview with the 75-year-old Chapal. So it���s a film within a film. Women were not allowed to take part in jatra. Men played women���s parts��� says Ritu. That���s where Rituparno���s feminine lookcomes in.
���The film makes us realise that taboos about sexuality haven���t changed that much. This film will lead to a very important cultural conversation. One can���t sit complacently and wait for a change in society,��� adds Ritu.
���There���s a very important line in the film, ���What is more important? The way we want to live our lives, or the way we actually live our lives?��� I want my role to reflect my beliefs and ideologies. Thank God, producers had the right intentions.���The film is expected to release at the end of this year.