Mumbai, Oct 26 (IANS) Deepti Naval was roped in at the last minute for ‘Memories Of March’, but the veteran actress says she grabbed the chance after having heard just three lines about the film.
‘It was a great opportunity for me to be part of this film because I have a great weakness for this kind of cinema, where one can be real and one can portray a character straight out of life, out of Hindi films’ heroine mould. I just grabbed the opportunity,’ Deepti told IANS.
‘I think, I was called at the last moment so I was thrilled that anything else didn’t work out and I got the opportunity to be in this film,’ she said.
‘Memories of March’, which is in Hindi and English, tells the story of a bereaved mother Arati Mishra (Deepti Naval), who comes to Kolkata to collect her son’s ashes and belongings after his death. And on meeting his friends and colleagues she is amazed to see that their perspective about her son is so different and discovers a new side of him she never knew as a mother.
The movie was screened here Monday evening as part of the 12th Mumbai Film Festival – MAMI as it is popularly called by the initials of Mumbai Academy of Moving Image.
The film by debutant director Sanjoy Nag sees director Rituparno Ghosh as an actor. He has written the story, script and screenplay of the film as well.
‘Ritu (Rituparno Ghosh) called me first and told me the subject in three lines. In three lines I quite got the idea of the film. The subject was quite intriguing. I thought I would get my teeth into in this film,’ the actress said.
The film was supposed to be solely in Bengali, but just before it went on floors it was changed to Hindi and English as there was no time for Deepti to learn Bengali.
‘I came in the last minute so there was very little time for the shoot to begin and I needed a couple of days to start learning Bengali. When I landed, there were no time left to learn Bengali, so Ritu said it’s easier for all to speak Hindi rather than teaching me Bengali,’ said Naval.
Asked about her experience of working with Rituparno Ghosh as an actor, she said: ‘We thought he will be trying to direct us…But it was a pleasant surprise that he stuck to his role, acting in the film. He is a wonderful actor.’
