Konkona Sen in Mira Nair's Shantaram

Contrary to the flights of fancy in certain media circles about Mira Nair's ambitious adaptation of Gregory David Roberts' bestseller - Shantaram - being aborted due to Johnny Depp's fancy fee, the project is very much on.

And the latest news is that Konkona Sen will also play a small but vital part in Mira Nair's Shantaram.

Mira says, "Alas, We have been stalled temporarily due to the crippling nature of the writers' strike in Hollywood. Johnny Depp assures me that this is just a pause, and that we'll rev up to go again once the strike is resolved. I've spent a year of creative endeavour in realising Shantaram , so I look forward to the time when it will all come together."

The cast which initially boasted of Amitabh Bachchan with Depp now has, among others, the rapidly-rising Konkona Sen in a very special role.

Divulges Mira, "In addition to Johnny Depp and Amitabh Bachchan, I'd confirmed Irrfan Khan in a major role and Konkona Sen for a one big dramatic scene. I've also been in talks with Prabhudeva, Arshad Warsi, Shreyas Talpade and Ranvir Sheorey. I'd also love to work with Pankaj Kapoor. We have such an extraordinary bunch of great actors in India!"

Konkona and Irrfan in Neeraj Pathak's Right Or Wrong

Konkona Sen Sharma and Irrfan Khan, who made an entertaining couple in Metro, are set to act together again.

The duo will come together in a film titled Right Or Wrong, which will mark the directorial debut of writer Neeraj Pathak, who recently wrote Apne.

Right Or Wrong will have Sunny Deol and Irrfan Khan playing cops. Konkona Sen will play a lawyer and Isha Koppikar will play Sunny's wife.

The movie will be jointly produced by Subhash Ghai's Mukta Arts and Kishen Chaudhary's Icon Pictures and the film's music will be composed by Monty Sharma, who has also composed for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya.

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Amu : A Film on Indira Gandhi's Assassination!

Writer-director Shonali Bose says her award-winning Indian film Amu brings to light what she calls the 'suppressed history of genocide' after the 1984 assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Set for its US theatrical debut in New York City on May 25 following its controversial release in India, Amu is not about the past but about the present too, Bose said. It presents the contemporary and politically volatile tale of a young Indian-American woman's search for the truth about her past, she says about the first feature film about the events of 1984.

She was a 19-year-old student in New Delhi when Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards, Bose recalled. "In the days and nights that followed, thousands of people of the Sikh faith were massacred in 'retribution' in a carnage organised by those in political power. The story of the riots and relief camps of 1984 insisted on being told. I knew that was the film I had to make. No matter how hard it was going to be, this was the story I had to write and the film I had to make, to bring to light the suppressed history of that genocide. And so Amu was born," she said.


It was not a Hindu-Sikh riot as projected by powers that be, but state sponsored genocide or carnage in which police, administration and every other organ of state connived, Bose alleged wondering, 'how is it possible that 5,000 people were killed in cold blood' with impunity.

What was more shocking was that some of the worst propaganda followed dividing the communities and branding the Sikhs as terrorists, she said, but insisted that her film did not reopen old wounds about an event best forgotten.

Konkona in search of Mr Right

In her latest release, Metro, Konkona Sen Sharma's character searches for her Mr Perfect, but is it the same in real life for the actress?

"I want someone with a sense of humour, understanding and creativity," the actress reads out her wish list.

The actress took time off to chat with her fans on Shaadi.com. Though this was just a promotional event, Konkona says that given a choice, she would never go online to look for a guy. "For me going online might not work. It's not likely. I don't think I'll ever log onto Shaadi.com, personally," says she.

Konkona very well knows that marriage is serious business and a big risk at the same time. "All marriages are risky. It's a great institution but a difficult one to maintain," opines the actress. At a level, Konkona says she relates to her character in Metro, especially the part of living in a city like Mumbai and dealing with high level frustrations.

"I don't know if it has to do with Mumbai, but yes, you feel like screaming and everyone will have an opportunity to scream on the terrace with a friend sometimes," she says.

That's life in a metro! One now only hopes that Konkana finds her Mr Perfect soon!

Know why Konkona took up Metro?

After playing several unconventional roles, Konkona is upbeat about her next stimulating performance in Anurag Basu’s Metro where she plays the role of a woman who is depressed for being a virgin at 30.

Konkona says, “Shruti’s character is like any normal girl. She is financially independent but under- confident. She ends up taking several wrong decisions while finding a companion for herself. She is so finicky that she doesn’t approve of any body.” For Konkona it was not a difficult role to pull off as she relates to the role. “Shruti’s character is close to me as I see a lot of people like her around me.”

Strangely though, she has no strings attached with the movie. “Films are very unpredictable; it may be a hit or may be a disaster. I do not expect anything out of of my projects. I just do my job well.”

For Konkona the best part about working on this project was working with Anurag Basu. “He was one of the reasons I signed the film. I haven’t seen his movies but I have heard that he is very good. The script was not ready when I had signed the film but I had liked the way he described the film to me and hence I took it up. I go by my instincts and I knew that this would be a good project to work in. He is a nice director and a nice human being too.The positive vibes experienced, while shooting for the film is rarely experienced on the sets of other projects ”

Incidentally, Konkona had shifted to Mumbai from Kolkata a year and a half ago. When asked, how does the city’s fast paced life treat her, she calmly says, “Work keeps me busy. It’s the best way to forget everything. I am doing alright in the city. Though, I often visit Kolkata.”

Rituparno Ghosh's Dosar goes to Cannes

After having toured the globe in several prestigious international film festivals and winning numerous awards Rituparno Ghosh’s black and white chronicle Dosar has been selected in one of the most exalted film festivals of the world, The Cannes International Film Festival. Chosen to be screened in the ‘Tous les Cinemas du Monde’ section which screens the best of world cinema.

Dosar stars the talented Konkona Sen Sharma and superstar of West Bengal, Prosenjit Chatterjee. Inaugurated by the Festival de Cannes in 2005, the ambition of ‘Tous les Cinemas du Monde’ section is to illustrate the vitality and diversity of cinema throughout the world, the dynamism of its young creative talent and the involvement of its institutions in promoting international cinema. Along with Dosar, the section will see the best of Indian cinema, with Lage Raho Munnabhai, Guru and other best of regional films of India.

Cannes Festival has invited Director Rituparno Ghosh, Producer Arindam Chaudhuri and CEO – Planman Motion Pictures Shubho Shekhar Bhattacharjee to represent Dosar. PMP will also have a grand marketing presence at Cannes this year with five films in hand for release already in the current financial year.

Rituparno is currently busy with his film The Last Lear starring Amitabh Bachchan and Preity Zinta in lead roles.

Konkona opts out of her mother's film

Konkona Sen has opted out of Aparna Sen’s film, The Japanese Wife as she is doing Yash Raj’s two forthcoming films Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and Aaja Nachle. Aparna Sen's The Japanese Wife is an English film that stars Rahul Bose, Raima Sen, Moushami Chatterjee and a Japanese actress Chigasu Takaku.

According to Aparna Sen, Konkona had to leave Mira Nair’s Namesake for her last film 15 Park Avenue. And now Konkona did not want to give up Yash Raj’s Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and Aaja Nachle.

It is also believed that Aparna plans to shoot the film in Japan. She will start shooting from the end of the March. She also informs that her film is based on an unpublished story by an author named Kunal Basu, who writes from Oxford. Though Konkona is not part of the film she has lent her home in Mumbai for the rehearsals and workshops in her house.

Konkona Sen dumps womanising Ranvir!

I'm not going to look the other way! Ranvir and Konkona

Konkona Sen Sharma and Ranvir Shorey have never spoken about their relationship in print. Even when the media sniffed out the romance and exposed a secret rendezvous in Khandala, the duo maintained a stoic silence. They attended filmi functions together and that's about as 'public' as they were willing to get about their relationship. 

But like all good things, this too has come to an end. According to a well-placed source, the lovebirds parted ways a few weeks ago. Ranvir had dropped in on the sets of Rituparno Ghosh's Sunglass in Kolkata a month ago and everything seemed hunky-dory then. But soon after, things began to fall apart. We got the inside scoop on what really happened.

What a player!

Close friends of the couple have been talking about major differences erupting between the two for some time now. A source close to the couple reveals, "They've been having issues for quite a while now. The main problem is Ranvir's weird mood swings. He keeps alternating between showering her with too much love and then giving her the cold shoulder treatment. Konkona's mother (Aparna Sen) didn't approve of their relationship either. She felt Ranvir wasn't right for Konkona." 

But the final nail in the coffin came after an incident that happened at a common friend's party a few weeks ago. Says the source, "It was a private party with very few people in attendance. Ranvir and Konkona came there together but it was evident they'd been arguing. Drinks were being served and everyone was chatting when Konkona noticed that Ranvir was missing. When she went looking for him, she discovered him in the arms of another girl in one of the rooms! He had a drink in one hand and the girl in the other. A shocked Konkana tried to look calm and composed. She didn't react at all and quietly slipped away. She didn't mention what she'd seen to anyone, but everyone knew. They haven't spoken to each other since."

Venting frustration?

When we contacted Ranvir to confirm his split from Konkona, he didn't deny the story but said curtly, "I don't want to talk about it."

When we prodded for more information and told him about what had transpired at the party, he turned abusive and said, "You guys are so full of s**t!"

Konkona was equally terse in her comments. She said, "I don't discuss my personal life with the media. Please leave me out of this."

Konkana is presently shooting for Anurag Basu's Metro while Ranvir has completed shooting for Anurag Kashyap's No Smoking, where he play's John Abraham's friend.

The time is ripe for Konkona in Bollywood

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 IANS.

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 Mukherjee 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."

She is quite impressed with her "Deadline" co-star Irrfan Khan.

"It's always a pleasure to work with Irffan. He's among the best. We did a film called 'Meridian' and now we're working in Anurag Basu's 'Metro' as well."

Konkona is satisfied with the work she's doing.

"I'm lucky. What if I wasn't offered the roles that I was offered?"

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