When Rituparna Sengupta walks into a room, the room feels like a happy party filled with warmth and cheer. No matter what she is going through in life, it never reflects on the surface. Even during her lows, she believes in celebrations and celebrating life. The actress spoke to t2 about celebrating life, work and more in a freewheeling adda...

Birthday is all about celebrating yourself. What do you love to celebrate about yourself?

(Laughs) I celebrate life every day. Life is too short, and we should not hold back ourselves from celebrating it by focusing on our problems. I celebrate everything. One thing that gives me immense pleasure these days is to fulfill others’ wishes. And when I am able to do that, I love to celebrate that as well. I believe in facing every problem in life with positive energy and that positivity comes from the spirit to celebrate the good bits of life. Of course, for every celebration, I like to have my family and friends beside me. But I believe life is not just about me and myself. I often join other people in their moments of glory, too, and I celebrate their success.

What is your favourite way to celebrate your birthday?

Birthdays always bring back so many beautiful memories! While growing up, I used to have a beautiful get-together with my cousins. This time, my cousin from Bombay has come down to be with me. Also, she is here to see my mother as she is not keeping well and has been admitted to the hospital. These small gestures of love by my near and dear ones on my birthday always touch my heart. My husband is also coming to the city. Other than this, I love to spend this day with the kids in my orphanages. This year, on my birthday, I am doing something special for pediatric cancer patients, too. Lots of people love to celebrate this day with me — different organisations, fan clubs... the SRK fan club also wanted to cut a cake… but since my mother is not well, I have decided to keep the celebration low-key this year. Everybody sends flowers, letters… my friends from abroad. But many of them are here this time. So, it will be a gathering of just family and friends. But I will be having a working birthday this year like most years. I have a dance performance, an NGO meet, a shoot and I will also meet my mother in the hospital.

You always meet people with so much warmth and cheer, even on the gloomy days of your life. What is your pick-me-up mantra?

I don’t let my personal problems affect my relationship with someone else and make them feel overburdened with my problems. My mantra is to be positive and spread positive vibes to every person I meet. I like giving my hundred per cent to each moment in my life.

What is your birthday wish for this year?

A better society where women are treated with respect. Everyone who is working hard should get recognition and their hard work should not be overridden by bad influence. The ones who deserve recognition should get it. And I wish for my mother to recover soon.

Besides the celebration, birthdays make us assess ourselves, too, for setting new goals and dreams for the years ahead. How would you assess yourself in the following roles:

Mother: My children have many complaints (laughs) but they love me also! I want to give my 100 per cent but I am not there yet. But they do agree that I am a better teacher than their father! (Laughs) For everything, they need their father, but for learning something, except Maths, they need me! I have wanted to be a teacher since my childhood days. As a child, I used to think of all the walls in my home as my blackboard and teach all our maids! (Laughs)
Producer: I am yet to learn a lot. My producing capacities have been limited. But I think I have done some meaningful films and am still looking forward to doing some great films. I hope people will give their love to Puratawn, I am really looking forward to this one. Bhavna Aaj o Kal is going steady. We are like the tortoise, slowly but steadily we will win the race. We are making some great corporate films, too. Recently, we did one for the Metro Railways and it was hugely appreciated. We are still in the learning process but we have the zeal. It is a new team, and we hope to see light at the end of the tunnel.
Actor: I have miles to go before I sleep. With social media and everything around, an artiste’s life is difficult. I am trying to cope with it and make my way up there, but it is not easy.

You juggle your life across cities. What is your self-care mantra?

My self-care mantra is very simple. You have to be free of certain ideas in your head. I may wake up not feeling well, having a bad hair day, not looking good or feeling gloomy… but I always wake up and say, today is going to be the brightest day of my life. I don’t hold any pent-up emotions inside me and don’t allow myself to sulk or brood. Come what may, I will show up — this is what I tell myself every day. Life is all about living well, making memories and giving your best shot. Sometimes when things don’t work out or the results are not up to the mark, I accept it and tell myself to move on to the next. Not everything is meant for me. I am doing a lot of work now… I have a website called One Rishta, a pret line called RAS… for me, it is not about always announcing in a big way what I am doing. I come from a middle-class family, where I have seen small aspirations turn big. I believe in taking baby steps and achieving everything with hard work.

Besides acting, you have been balancing your passion for dance...

Dance has always been my passion. It has always given me the best joys of life since my childhood days. My mother tells me that I have been dancing since I was three years old. That is when I was admitted to a dance school. In my family, no one is a dancer but it has been a part of me always. In school and in college, I have won prizes for it, too. I produced two dance shows also. I do many international performances as well. I have my own troupe. I feel very grateful that my daughter has picked up this side of me. She performs Odissi and has won many prizes as well.

You are a foodie. Is there a special dish that you like to indulge in on your birthday?

During childhood, on my birthdays, Maa would cook and feed everyone mangsher ghugni and mangsher chop. These two are my favourites. I really miss these two dishes on my birthday now. In our school, we were allowed to wear coloured dresses and take chocolates for our classmates. That’s a memory I really cherish. Both my mother and mother-in-law used to cook payesh as well.

You love reinventing yourself. Actor, producer, entrepreneur…what else is there on your bucket list?

Every year on New Year’s I am asked what is my resolution, and for many years, I have had the same answer— I will learn to drive! (Laughs) This year I have accomplished that! I can drive not only in Singapore but on the busy roads of Calcutta as well. This year, I drove to t2’s Puja shoot as well! I have not explored film direction yet. But eventually, someday, something will excite me or drive me to it, I believe. I am really working on my musical right now. I was supposed to release my poetry book this year on my birthday but it is still a work in progress. But apart from this, spending quality family time and time with friends is also on my bucket list!

Being a star in this industry for so many years must not have been easy. How do you wish your legacy to be remembered?

Thriving as a star needs a lot of confidence but not overconfidence. It needs a positive approach to life and dedication to the craft. I think keeping my goal fixed, working hard and not getting swayed in other directions really helped me. I feel like a one-man army. It is about knowing how to balance and being in the right frame of mind. So many stars drift away and then again come back to work. But I have never left work, come what may. All these years, I kept working continuously… there were professional problems, personal problems… but I never left. When you are a star, you have to be a star in every possible way. You should shine in your own domain and outside your domain as well.

I want my legacy to be remembered through my work and through my roles. I want to build an institution. I want to create something for the next generation, where they can come and learn and witness the culture we have thrived in. I want to help the next generation to grow and be remembered through that.