Time is ripe for Konkona in Bollywood
From Noreen Aslam

MUMBAI—Life couldn’t get any rosier for the talented Konkona Sen Sharma. With “Omkara” behind her and prestigious films like Madhur Bhandarkar’s “Traffic Signal”, Rituparno Ghosh’s “Sunglass” and Pradeep Sarkar’s untitled one to look forward too, Konkona is set to go places.
However, she feels that it was Vishal Bharadwaj’s “Omkara” which started a new phase in her career. “I’m so glad I did ‘Omkara’... So happy that I got to work with Vishal! And to think I had constant apprehensions about doing the Hindi language in a UP dialect. Finally, Vishal had to tell me to stop getting conscious about my language because it was hampering my performance,” Konkona told newsmen.
Tell her she had some really naughty things to say to Kareena Kapoor in “Omkara” and Konkona giggles. “Oh, my dialogues get even naughtier in Bhandarkar’s “Traffic Signal” where I play this street walker. It’s a small role. But very peppery.”
For Konkona, the length of the role is not important. “You know I don’t mind doing small roles. But it has to make some sense in the script. Some people are offering me senseless and tiny roles presuming I’m game for anything.” The one she’s truly excited about at the moment is “Sunglass”.
“ ‘Sunglass’ is my third film with Rituparno Ghosh. Fourth if you count both the Hindi and English versions of ‘Sunglass’ separately. And it’s my first comedy. “Though I did have light moments in ‘Omkara’, but nothing like this film where I play this wacky woman with wacky powers.” Konkona has a lot to hum about her two films with Jaya Bachchan.
“You know, I used to admire Jayaji’s earlier films so much. The way she emoted, and her whole personality exuded certain warmth. And now Jayaji is playing my mother in two films!”
Konkona is thrilled by the thought that she’ll have Jaya as her mother in “Sunglass” and Sarkar’s untitled venture for Yash Raj Films.
“I was very nervous and excited. We met up just an evening before we started shooting on Nov 1. We got to know one another during the shoot. I think now Pradeep-da will reap the harvests of our compatibility,” she joked. Mention of Sarkar’s film brings a sparkle to her voice.
“It’s so different in mood to ‘Sunglass’, so Jayaji and I get to play very different mother-daughter pairs in both the films.”
She admits she’s kicked by the presence of Rani Mukerji who plays her sister in Sarkar’s film.
“Rani is an actress I like immensely. She was so wonderful in ‘Black’. I’ve looked forward to the time when I can actually share screen space with her.” Is she kicked about doing a Yash Raj Films?
“I accepted this film because Pradeep Sarkar strikes an even balance between art and commercialism. He doesn’t really fall into the Shyam Benegal-Govind Nihalani bracket. Yet he’s superior to average commercial potboiler maker.”