/> It's as if history is hellbent on repeating itself.

In 1984 when Aparna Sen directed Paroma she cast journalist Mukul Sharma who happened to be her husband, as the leading man.

But Aparna Sen didn't share screen space with her then-husband. Mukul who had absolutely no experience in acting played Rakhee Gulzar's photo-journalist-lover in Paroma. And very professionally too. Aparna even shot a kiss between Rakhee and Mukul.

24 years later Aparna Sen's current husband Kalyan Ray who's a professor in the US, has been persuaded to face the camera with her in the Bengali film Antaheen.

And this time Aparna Sen is on the same side of the camera as her husband. Aparna's long-distance marriage with Prof Kalyan Ray has been deeply satisfying to the actress, so much so that he didn't hesitate for a minute in moving from academics to acting when she needed him to do so.

Reveals director Aniruddh Roy-Chowdhary, "At first Kalyan was naturally very hesitant. He had never acted before. What would a man of letters have to do with the motion-picture camera? But Reenadi(Aparna) and I were convinced Kalyan was the perfect choice for her husband's part. And my hunch was right. Kalyanda is awesome. The camera loves him. What a terrific screen he has !"

Kalyan Ray plays his real-life wife's estranged husband in Antaheen and has some splendid moments of drama with his seasoned co-star.

There have been earlier instances of author -academicians doing cameo parts, for instance Salman Rushdie who has appeared in the Bridget Jones Diary. But never have we had an academician sharing screen space with his real-life actress-wife.