A birthday calls for we-time with family, cutting cakes, receiving calls from friends and well-wishers! Over to mom-to-be Koel Mallick, who turns a year younger today.

Happy birthday! What’s the one birthday wish you want the genie to grant you this year?!

On the whole there should be a lot of love, happiness and peace... it is something that I have always wished for in life. For the immediate present, it would be that the life that grows within me should be righteous, virtuous and spiritual. With the pandemic crushing the world, I pray for everyone’s health and well-being. I wish the world heals fast. Every morning I wake up with the hope that a vaccine gets invented soon to combat Covid-19.

What’s the one thing which is a must-do on your birthday?

You take blessings from all the elders. It’s a day of gratitude... I get a lot of calls from family and friends. I wake up feeling special. I spend the day with my loved ones.

What’s your fave birthday memory?

It goes back to my childhood days. Ma would get this khoi bag from New Market. It would be hung from a fan. My cousins and friends would spring up enthusiastically to burst it. A gush of toys and presents would fall out of that. And we would also play Musical Chair and Pass the Puzzle and cheerfully spend the day.

Is there a message that you would like to give to your fans on your birthday?

Spread love and happiness. And now, please help everyone as much as you can. Stay safe, healthy and take care of the elders in your family.

With only a few days to go for the big mommy day, what are your thoughts right now? How have the last few months been for you?

It has been a very enriching experience. There has been a paradigm shift of perception. Priorities change; there is a new meaning to life. It is a beautiful feeling... a feeling that is beyond words. It is inexpressible.

I read some really nice books. What to Expect When You’re Expecting was gifted to me by my best friend Antara, a new mom herself. The book helped me enormously. There were many questions and queries which had come to my mind, which were answered beautifully. (Director) Soukarya Ghosal’s wife Pooja gifted me another book called Our Bodies, Ourselves. There are beautiful chapters on motherhood. It is lovely to be pampered by so many people (smiles)! My friend Radhika (Singhi), who lives across the road, sends me scrumptious fancy food and spiritual books. Those were beautiful.

What’s the most fun thing you and Rane (husband Nispal Singh) did or shared in the last few weeks together at home?

Rane is a man of few words (smiles)! The lockdown gave both of us the scope to spend some quality time together. Whether it was about having long conversations or watching movies, watching the sunset or enjoying the rain, these are the things we cherish in life together. Many of our personality traits are extremely common, which make us feel comfortable in each other’s company.

What’s a day in your life like now?

My day starts with chants, prayers, yoga and meditation. I feel around this time meditation is the only thing that really gives you a grip over yourself that brings a sense of calm over all the chaos, brings stillness. As a responsible citizen it is important to be aware... the (pandemic) news disturbs you. But yet another self instructs your brain to remain calm ... this too shall pass. It is a very difficult time for the world. All that we can do is help each other with all our might and pray for a happy tomorrow.

Is it a time for self-reflection?

It is a cleansing process... it is time people shift their ideas and views and perceptions and see the world in a different way, in a more compassionate and kind way... with themselves and others and Mother Nature. It’s a time to get to know yourself even more. It is about helping everyone and connecting with your near and dear ones. It is also a time to sharpen your skills... it is nice to see people cooking, painting, and taking care of their fitness. It is very essential for people to spend time with themselves. It is also about understanding the importance of co-existence... where humans co-exist with the animals and all living elements. It is important for humans to understand that and not take life or the world for granted.

We pick some memorable moments from Koel’s films

• Koel gets into playacting mode and turns on the seduction charm on the character played by Parambrata Chattopadhyay to great effect in the film Highway! By lowering her voice and altering it to a breathy tone, she says, “I prefer the lights to be off!!”
• Koel becomes a would-be bride’s grandmom for a few minutes to play a trick on the family who has come to seek the hand of her sister in marriage in the film Shubhodrishti. Koel is hilarious in the scene as she aces the role, with a silver wig, a walking stick, high-pitched voice, slow walk and an inquisitive nature. “So you thought I am the bride?!” jokes Koel walking into the room. Her three questions to the startled would-be groom: “Can you cook, take care of a child and know how to wash clothes?!”
• As detective Mitin Mashi in the film by the same name, Koel is spot on, brilliantly portraying a character who is strong, sharp, perceptive, intuitive, warm, kind and sensitive. What wins our hearts every time are those sequences where she is cracking clues and tracking down criminals and beating them to pulp with a series of awe-inspiring kicks.
• One of the best sequences of Hemlock Society (directed by Srijit Mukherji) featuring Koel starts with Ananda Kar (Parambrata) walking into a medicine shop with a song on his lips: “What’s going to happen tonight?”. A disturbed Meghna (Koel) lands up at the shop to get sleeping pills and Ananda ends up following her home, bursting into her flat (a poster of the film Gone With The Wind in Meghna’s flat gives the scene a new dimension), flushing away all the sleeping pills and saving Meghna’s life. Koel perfectly captures the different moods and emotions of Meghna — from being sad, anxious, fearful to her breaking down — while Param brings in a mix of wit, humour, determination and awareness.
• The scene where Koel and her dad Ranjit Mallick come together on screen for the first time in Koel’s debut film Nater Guru. She goes to meet him (her screen father as well) at a cafe to ask for his help in a family situation at home involving her mother played by Moushumi Chatterjee.
• The LOL sequence that follows the superhit title track of Paglu where Dev — having told Koel they’ll be meeting the next morning — suddenly realises the next day is Sunday and that he’ll be meeting Koel after “1,29,600 seconds”. As he returns to convey the message, he sees Koel waiting to inform him that they will be meeting after 1,29,600 seconds! Yes, it is clear that they are on the same page!
• Among the many eye-grabbing scenes Koel has with Abir Chatterjee and Ritwick Chakraborty in Kaushik Ganguly’s Chaya O Chobi, this one deserves special mention — a scene with Abir where the star Rai (Koel) talks about taking a break. “I won’t do so-called commercial films. Not ruling it out completely, only if something interesting comes up. I need a break,” says Rai. Koel did take a break for a while and Chaya O Chobi was dubbed her “comeback film”!
• The climax of Ghare & Baire by the riverside will leave you moist-eyed! There’s an outpouring of emotions as Koel and Jisshu Sengupta deliver their lines and navigate the finer nuances of the scene. She wants him to say those three magic words while he is being shy about it. “I waited three years for you to grow a spine and some courage. How am I to know if you don’t tell me?” says Koel. That’s when Jisshu takes out a pair of shakha-pola from his pocket and finally proposes!
• On the run from the law, Koel disguises herself as Hiraan’s brother for a few minutes to look for a special someone (a character called Abhi) in Kaushik Ganguly’s film Jackpot. They climb up to a tree house. She recalls a fond memory with Abhi. She reconstructs a scene of them in that room in front of Hiraan. “Both of us were completely silent,” recalls Koel, looking into Hiraan’s eyes. “Suddenly he brought my face close to his, the room was dimly lit and it was a romantic moment,” remembers Koel. The memory of that evening and the reality of that afternoon suddenly seem to merge and that moment just becomes true for the two characters for a few seconds.
• Apart from the superhit title track and many fun moments, in 100% Love there is one really LOL sequence with Anuradha (Koel) driving a car and her sister trying to get close to Rahul (Jeet), who is visibly uncomfortable in the car. She loses her cool seeing this in the mirror. As the car hits a pothole, and jumps, the sister accidentally lands a peck on Rahul’s cheek! An appalled Anuradha hits the brakes!