AWARD-WINNING actress Konkona Sen Sharma will continue to star in English and Bengali films as she feels Hindi cinema alone is not everything.
Konkana made her acting debut in 2000, with Bengali film Ek Je Aachhe Kanya, in which she played a negative role. She then acted in another Bengali film titled Titli, opposite Mithun Chakraborty and her actress-director mother Aparna Sen.
Her role in English-language film Mr and Mrs Iyer, directed by Aparna Sen, won her a first National Award for best actress. She then acted in two more English films Chai Pani Etc and Amu.
“I will continue to act in all three languages. I am blessed that I am multilingual and nowadays we all speak at least two-three languages. I am happy to do a film in Bengali as I know and love that language,” says Konkana.
The actress began her Hindi film career with the National Award-winning film Page 3 in 2005 and says she liked to work in all genres.
“It is not that I like only realistic films. I like all kinds of films. I like to be part of films that have a good story, good characters. I choose films that appeal to me.”
Konkona’s notable performances in Hindi films include Omkara, Life In A Metro, Wake Up Sid and the recently released Ek Thi Daayan alongside Emraan Hashmi, Huma Qureshi and Kalki Koechlin. The horror drama was a screen adaptation of Konkona’s father Mukul Sharma’s story.
“It is based on one short story that my father wrote in 1975. It was a three-page story. It is wonderful and special to work in a film written by my father. He developed the screenplay with (producer) Vishal (Bharadwaj),” reveals Konkona.
Married to actor Ranvir Shorey since 2010, she was away from the big screen for some time as she was busy with her baby boy. “I had a baby and that is pretty time consuming. I started working last year. I did three Bengali and two Hindi films and they will be released gradually.”
Konkona says motherhood has not changed her too much.
“I am the same human being with same value systems, likes and dislikes. I guess more or less I am basically the same. But I have become more patient,” she admits, adding that striking a work-life balance with a baby is a challenging task.
“It is quite hard to juggle between the two for working mothers. But it is hugely rewarding as the payback is massive.”
Not surprisingly, Konkana admires working women. “I have learnt to appreciate working mothers, because millions of women are doing that, including my maid who does not have the resources which I do. My admiration for working women has gone up.”
