Two worlds collide in the upcoming serial Saathi on Sun Bangla. Brishti is all about being kind, loving, sensitive, headstrong and warm while lawyer Om only understands the pursuit of truth and responsibility. Produced by Friends Communication, Saathi stars Anumita Dutta and Indrajeet Bose in the lead. The Telegraph chats with Anumita....
Tell us about your character in Saathi?
My character in Saathi is the protagonist of the story. Her biological parents named her Sumedha but after an accident she lost both her parents and ended up in an orphanage where a man named Ananda Thakur raised her like his own daughter and named her Brishti. She is a very affectionate, fun-loving, headstrong personality who is also a fighter.
To her, her family is Ananda Thakur and the kids of the orphanage, which is the most valuable and precious thing that she possesses. Her goal in life is to keep her family happy and safe under any circumstances.
How is the shooting experience till now?
To be honest, the shooting experience has been great. It’s a bit hectic and tiring for me because I have to travel for two hours just to reach the location every day. But it is absolutely worth it. We are currently shooting in a beautiful farmhouse, the food is great and the team is amazing. I have a very co-operative team, there’s a lot to learn from them.
What kind of homework did you do to play the role?
As we all know, work in a mega serial doesn’t end only on the sets.
Thinking about the character is the most important thing about playing any character. A character has a lot of layers and if you don’t think about it you won’t be able to discover it... and playing a character is not only playing it on screen, it is about living the character off screen as well. Before shooting we had a few workshops and we were given detailed character briefs. Apart from reading lines again and again and going through scenes repeatedly, what I did is to think about the character and try to live within it.
I don’t know how much I will be able to carry out such a beautiful and amazing character but I am crossing every limit and giving my best and I hope everyone likes it. Fingers crossed!
What is the best part about Saathi?
I am loving all of it, the shooting, the make-up, the costumes, the scenes, the team, everything is absolutely great. One of the best things is shooting with the kids, because I love kids and shooting with them doesn’t even feel like work. It’s a blast shooting with those innocent, adorable munchkins. Most of them like to call me Didi and get very angry when I don’t give equal attention to all of them. Sometimes, after the scene ends and we have to start a new scene which doesn’t include them, they hug me very tightly and refuse to let me go, which spoils my hair and make-up, but how does these things matter to kids?! (Smiles) All they ask for is love, time and attention.
Since Pandob Goyenda was such a talked-about series, how do you look back at the series now?
The memories are still very fresh, from going to the audition for the first time in my life, signing the project, entering the set for the first time, to getting scolded by the director, making friends on set and learning set ethics. All of us received huge love from our audience, and that is the best gift we all could get as artistes. And as I always say, Pandob Goyenda and the character Bacchu is not just a character to me. They are an emotion to me, and the project shall always remain very close to my heart no matter where I am.
How was 2020 and 2021 for you?
The years would probably be written in history with black ink, because of the pandemic we all went through and are still going through. I have been affected by the virus twice and clearly it was a horrible experience. But I am a person who likes to see a glass half full instead of half empty. I signed my first mega serial in 2020 and got more love than I deserved from my beautiful audience, and I shall be forever grateful for that. And by the end of 2021 I signed Saathi, which is obviously a great thing for me.
Do you see empowering stories with strong women leads happening in Bengali serials?
Yes, many serials are showing women as strong leads. If I refer to my own character she is a very headstrong woman. Many shows are focusing on women empowerment.
Do you have a dream role?
That would be any historical strong character, or maybe some fictional character like Wonder Woman.