Rukmini Maitra is soaking in all the accolades coming her way with her 2024 Durga Puja release Tekka, a hostage drama by Srijit Mukherji, that resonates uncannily with the times we are living in. The beautiful actress plays super cop Maya, who, like all of us, is a mix of vulnerabilities and strengths. Her is a shining performance in the drama that has a stellar cast of Dev, Swastika Mukherjee and Paran Bandopadhyay.

t2 caught up with Rukmini recently on the success of Tekka, what Maya means to her and what it is like being Maya in an “alternate universe!”

The shoot looks too cool!

This is Maya in her paradise, in an alternate universe! Probably she is on a day off and she is enjoying herself, indulging in me time. She is just enjoying and embracing being a woman, having fun by herself and cheering life. These are all shades of Maya. I love fashion and playing with my looks. I don’t know when I will have the opportunity to sport such short hair again and own it. This was my moment and I thought let’s have some Maya mayhem! We have seen the Maya magic on screen. Let’s have some Maya mayhem in t2!

Congratulations on Tekka! You were fabulous. Tell us about the responses that have reached your inbox...

Thank you! The reviews have been fantastic. It is very difficult to pull off a one-room and one-costume drama with elan. It is also difficult to retain the attention of the audience especially during Puja when they expect dance, romance and drama. To offer them the complete opposite and them accepting it, is a big win in itself. We are extremely happy with the response we have received.
Maya was somebody I didn’t want to even touch, not because of the way she looked. Looking the part is no longer a taboo for me. When I did Nisha in Boomerang (who sported a bald pate), everyone on the sets was shocked. They were like, it’s a mainstream film and (is the bald pate) even ok?

For Maya, more than the ‘boy’s cut’, what struck people at that point on the sets was the way I walked in. People are loving that right now. Maya’s walk is nothing like Rukmini’s walk. She is a man and she is completely unapologetic about it. To have such a character who carries the entire film on her shoulders and she is unapologetic about the fact that she is a woman in all her right and a man, at the same time, in all her might. She is the exact balance. I think people have connected to the ‘maya’ in her.

You were saying you were nervous before release...

I was a nervous wreck! (Laughs) I called up Srijit in the middle of the night and Dev, saying it’s best I stay in Bombay and not attend the premiere because people will write me off with this film! (Laughs) Post shooting Tekka, I had gone into a shell for two months where I was struggling to understand what I had done with this film. I had performed, blindfolded, trusting Srijit and his vision, which at times I couldn’t see myself doing. He said, just surrender and don’t check a single frame. I have a ridiculous habit of checking the shot. For Tekka, he allowed me to check only one shot where Maya puts on her sunglasses and then said, ‘You’ve seen Maya, now be Maya’. This was a movie we shot in sync sound and there was no dubbing. So, my confidence had hit rock bottom, but when I finally saw the film on the night of the premiere, I apologised to Srijit and told him, ‘That’s why you are Srijit Mukherji’. The way people applauded and in the last scene where I put my sunglasses on, people were whistling and cheering for Maya as the hero of the film, I was like, did I just manifest that into the universe?! It would be one of my greatest moments if I ever sit down to write my autobiography.

I know if a film does well, we all win, but there is a selfish actor in everyone. Srijit just asked me to wait for the film to release. I did give him a tight hug and thanked him for Maya and I’ll always be grateful for that. I am thankful to God for this year. It’s been really good, touchwood.

What struck you about yourself as a performer?

That I am not only a good-looking woman, but I can also be a great-looking man! (Laughs out loud) People have written in reviews that she is the lady Shah Rukh Khan! (Laughs) I don’t know whether I should be happy or sad about it! (Laughs) It’s really funny! I love Shah Rukh Khan but how am I going to ever make him love me... hey, Shah Rukh Khan, come love Shah Rukh Khan?! (Laughs)

But jokes apart, I believe a lot of times we seek validation from the outside and it’s become a problem with our generation all the more and it’s a big part of our profession. You must learn to validate yourself and tell yourself how proud you are of yourself. My mother was at the premiere and I looked at her instantly, trying to seek validation, but even before that, I told myself I had come a long way and battled a lot of perceptions, ideas and stereotypes and survived it all with elan.

I saw myself as someone who’d pay to watch me on screen. I am carving my own path, big or small, it’s mine.

What of Maya has stayed with you?

One of the reasons I would refrain from being an actor is that I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it all. Acting is one of the toughest professions where your achievements are celebrated and it is extremely gratifying, but your failures make the bigger headlines. Maya is the strongest character I have possibly played and the most human. She can truly do it all and epitomises woman power, a Dashabhuja. She reinstated the belief in me that I could do it all and any woman can. I can be the alpha out there and a homemaker. I can do anything I want. It’s just mind over matter.

Also, she couldn’t care less. Given the patriarchal society we live in, sadly, it takes a lot to tell your man that my work is also my responsibility and I am as responsible towards it as my relationship and family. Don’t make us choose. Just let us be.

Are you choosy about your roles?

This has always been my rule since day one. During the dubbing of Chaamp (Rukmini’s debut film; 2017), Kamalda (director Kamaleswar Mukherjee) saw the dub and saw something in me and he offered Cockpit to me. Even though it was the second lead, I loved the story. Then came Kabir, where I played an antagonist. When I started modelling, I was groomed by Ashish Banerjee. I was barely 14. He told you’ll make it big provided you choose quality over quantity. I remember that moment as if it happened five minutes ago. That helped sustain me 10 long years as a model. When I started acting, I wanted to do parts which excited me.

When I did Boomerang (where she plays a AI generated humanoid), for the first time even my mother was sceptical. It is a wild character and I was like, it was so much fun. I am an uninhibited performer and will do what my script demands. Being a model where you have to pull off so many different looks, and not having that aspirational value of looking picture-perfect, is what is helping me to do a Maya or a Nisha or a Rumi (Switzerland) or a Yasmin (Kabir).

The biggest thing I get from my audience is courage and I am so grateful to my directors who trust me with such intense and offbeat parts. They have believed in me even when I have had self-doubt. I am thankful to each and every one of them for choosing me and seeing in me parts and people even I didn’t imagine I could pull off.

Who are the people who you go to for advice?

The first go-to person with a script is Dev, and then I make my mother read the script. I observe her and see whether she is enjoying it. Boomerang was one film that both my mother and Dev were sceptical about. This is where my gut played a role and with that film, I came into adulthood. I got an audience where children started loving me. That’s another dimension.

When Binodiini (by Ram Kamal Mukherhjee) came to me, I couldn’t believe someone would offer Binodini to me. People are loving the teaser.

This switch to “adulthood”, has it given you more confidence in your decisions?

Confidence yes, I won’t deny that, but more than confidence, audacity. Women are like flowers, they say, but why I truly believe women are like flowers is because the risk to sit tight in the bud is far more worse than the risk to allow yourself to blossom. It is more important for us to blossom. I have realised that I have to try. I can’t quit. Either I win or I grow.

Do you remain your biggest critic?

Always! (Laughs) We should master the art of giving ourselves a reality check. I am happy-go-lucky, but because I haven’t been trained as an actor, I feel inadequate. So, I try to prep. I function like a student. Srijit told me I was like Hermione! (Laughs) It’s okay! Hermione was the best magician, so I was happy!

Styling: Sumit Sinha
Outfits: Coral Concept
Make-up: Abhishek Indu
Hair: Mousami Chettri
Location: Hyatt Regency Kolkata