Konkona Sensharma has preferred to stay away from big budget song and dance Bollywood movies, opting to do smaller, more personal, projects.

With critics raving over her performance in Life in a Metro, Konkona is again hailed as one of the most talented actors of recent times. In a candid interview with TWF correspondent Ritusmita Biswas, she talks about her movies and more...

What kind of movies are you looking for at the moment?
I am looking for movies which can bring out my acting potential to the hilt and which are not just for making money. For me to act in the movie, the director must have some artistic sensibility and not just be entirely money oriented.

My movies might be commercial movies but they need to be something different from the usual run of the mill one, like ‘Life in a Metro'. Though it was a commercial movie yet it was something that was of a different genre and successfully captured the modern urban landscape.

When you were working in this movie did you guess that it would be such a hit?
No, off course not. I chose it as I liked the script. I really do not plan my movies that way. In fact to be very honest commercial success or failure of the film doesn't matter to me too much. I had a great time working in the movie and Anurag is an excellent person to work with.

Tell us something about your relationship with your mother Aprana Sen? Do you rate her better as an actor or a director?
Of course we do share a special bond that words would fail to describe and I do think she is a great director. In fact I feel she is a better director but only so as she is a great actor and understands what the needs of her actors would be. She has been my biggest influence actually.

I can't say concretely how she has helped, but it's the little things I absorb from her on a daily basis. In fact the director I am most comfortable with is my mother because she understands me really well and I trust her completely.

You always do good movies. Who helps you to select them? How do you select the movies?
I really go by my instinct, as in most things. Usually I see if I like the script, then the director and then the role, in that order.

What has been your favourite film acted till date?
Now that's rather an unjust question; it's like asking which member of your family you love the most. But still if I would have to retrospect I would say that my character Mithi in "15 Park Avenue" has been closest to my heart till date.

What if you are given a typical Bollywood masala film and the script reads well? Would you then agree to play the traditional role of heroine and dance around the trees?
Well at the end of the day the script will decide. But no dancing whether around trees or cars. I do not think it is a mental block; just that I feel dancing is not a part of acting. And besides I am not comfortable doing it.

Our readers would like to know more about you as a person. Tell us something about your favourite things? Like what was the best vacation that you have taken?
The best vacation till date has definitely been in Bhutan, where I went last year. In fact it is tough to talk about a single destination, which fascinates you, as when you are vacationing you do not go to the same place twice.

What is your style quotient?
I am too laid back to take much effort in creating a well-defined style quotient for myself. An overtly made up look is not for me. A jeans and a casual top is rather my favourite attire and which I can carry off with élan almost anywhere.

What about food? What kinds of cuisine do you like?
As I told you I am not much of a stylish person and so it is definitely not some exotic cuisine that I like or would like to talk about. To be very honest I love the street food of Kolkata. A biriyani from Aminia and chaap is still my favourite dish.

What is your future plan?
Nothing well defined as such. As I told you I am rather a laid back person and not very calculative. I am acting in several good movies and will continue to keep on acting as such. A few of the movies in which I am working now are Rituparna Ghosh's Sunglass, Pradeep Sarkar's Laga Chunri Mein Daag. I am eagerly waiting for their release.

And finally what would you be were you not an actor?
I would have loved to be a writer though I might have been a terrible one!