“First of all, this character itself is a very big responsibility for any woman to play,” says Bengali actor Madhumita Sarcar on her role in the upcoming web series Uttoron, which is set to premiere on Hoichoi on Wednesday.
Uttoron traces the journey of a woman named Parna (Sarcar), who unknowingly falls into the trap of an MMS leak. “She hits rock bottom, and subsequently rises from her own ashes,” the actor adds.
Parna is a school teacher and a wife, and Sarcar says she represents all the women who have faced problems or been judged for something that was not their fault. “When I heard the story, I loved it right away. I just said, ‘Okay, I want to play this character,’ because she is not just good but also different.”
Inspired by Sukanta Gangapadhyay’s book Battala, the upcoming series is directed by Joydeep Mukherjee and it also features Rajdeep Gupta, Sawon Chakraborty, and Swastika Dutta.
Sarcar began her career with television serials such as Bojhena Se Bojhena, Kusum Dola, and Care Kori Na, where she played traditional, simple, middle-class girls who became obedient wives and ideal daughters-in-law. She later moved on to doing films like Love Aaj Kal Porshu, Tangra Blues, and Chini, which allowed her to essay a variety of roles from an young passionate musician to a rebel daughter.
Parna is completely different from any role she has played before, the actor notes. However, Sarcar adds, there is a similarity to her television roles. “This girl is also from a very humble background, a typical middle-class family with integrity. But other than that, the entire thing was different.”
That said, she did not find this character very difficult to portray once she understood her essence. “It took a little effort initially to get to the feeling of the character and understand her mental process. The backstory helps with this. And once you understand the essence of the character, you just wait for the director’s instructions and perform,” she says.
Even after spending over a decade in the industry, people still remember and adore Sarcar as Pakhi from her debut serial Bojhena Se Bojhena. But the actor wants that same recognition for each of her roles. “After watching any of my work, I want people to know me and want to know me for ‘now’. That is my whole intention. I don’t want to repeat a character that I’ve played before. I want to seem new every time,” she says, adding that she is sure Parna from Uttoron will find a place in the hearts of the audience.
When taking the plunge from television to films, Sarcar’s goal was to get better as an actor. To this end, she has also been taking online filmmaking courses from a university in New York. “I want to get better at my craft,” she says.
Another reason for her move to cinema was the desire to play a variety of strong women.
While she admits that the portrayal of women has changed for the better over the years in Bengali television, she feels the making has not changed much, and has, in fact, gotten worse. “They are trying hard to make the women characters look stronger, more independent and more impactful. People have decided that they want to show the girls and women being much stronger. But unfortunately, the making of television shows is severely lacking.”
She compares television to high school and says that it is good for a certain while, when one doesn’t know anything about acting or how to stand in front of the camera. “But once you’re done with school, you have to move on. And that was the case with me.”
The actor feels Bengali cinema, on the other hand, is on a promising trajectory. “We have come out of the commercial and typical storylines. We are now trying to do something different, organic, interesting and new. Experimenting like this is good. Maybe we will fail, but then we can rise up again. I think this process is very important to get better at the end of the day.”
She notes that the women in Bengali films have become more than just a “showpiece” or a “mannequin,” and cites as examples her role and that of fellow actor Aparajita Adhya in the female-centric film Chini, as well as her character in Love Aaj Kal Porshu. “These films do not try to minimise their women characters to make the male character look better.”
Sarcar adds that Parna from the upcoming Uttoron is another such impactful character.
Speaking about the roles she has admired in recent times, Sarcar mentions the recently-released Hindi film Atrangi Re and Sara Ali Khan‘s character in it. “It was a complicated character that had many shades. I could see a lot, but I wanted to see a lot more. I really wanted to do her character.”
