Nandana Sen is on a roll. When she's not judging a rich platter of films in her role as a juror at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, she is basking in the warm reception that her film Autograph — also shown at the festival — has garnered after its premiere on Friday. The Bengali star plays a feisty actress in the film, a drama that exposes the glitzy yet jaded world of showbiz.
Sen gave us the inside scoop on working with statistician-turned-director Srijit Mukherji, sharing screen-space with iconic actor Prosenjit and more.
What drew you to the role in Autograph?
Srijit and I met in Bengaluru two years ago to discuss a play. Over coffee, we were talking about films that had greatly influenced us. [We] both blurted out [the Satyajit Ray classic] Nayak at the same time. That was the trigger.
Srijit wrote an extraordinary script — fun, imaginative, soulful, uncompromisingly real and at the same time romantic in a very lyrical way. He is a fabulous writer and created wonderful characters — any actor would say yes to any of the parts. And everyone did.
How was it working with acclaimed Bengali matinee idol Prosenjit?
Simply fantastic. I always admired him greatly as an actor, and now I adore him as a human being as well.
Once Srijit and I started out on this adventure, we knew the only actor who had the talent and the stature to play the superstar in our film was Prosenjit. So I gathered my courage and called him from Mumbai to tell him about Autograph and Srijit. Luckily, Prosenjit was warm and encouraging, which made my nervousness disappear. We had an hour-long chat on the phone.
You are a part of the ADFF jury panel. How has the experience been and how is it different from being a juror at other film festivals?
It has been terrific. I always love being part of the jury at film festivals. I've done it a few times, and the most wonderful part of it is that I get to see lots of remarkable films that I wouldn't get a chance to see otherwise. For a film addict like me that's the greatest high.
Don't miss it
Autograph will be screened Thursday night at 7.30pm at Cinestar 5.
