Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; January 25, 2019)

For the Hindi cinema audience, he may be Ileana D’Cruz’s silent-but-determined husband from Barfi!, Rani Mukerji’s supportive husband in Mardaani or Deepika Padukone’s friend-cum-confidante in Piku. But, the truth is, Jisshu Sengupta is one of Bengali cinema’s most popular actors and he’s fast gaining a foothold in Bollywood, too. As he gears up for his next release, Manikarnika — The Queen Of Jhansi, Jisshu tells BT how much critical acclaim matters to him, why we don’t see more Bengali actors in Hindi cinema and much more. Excerpts...

You are known for getting into the skin of every character you play. What sort of effort did it require to step into the shoes of a king, Gangadhar Rao Newalkar?
At one point, I had to say ‘no’ to Manikarnika because the dates were not matching with the Bengali film I was shooting with Srijit Mukherji. However, we managed to work it out, and the next thing I knew, I was on the set wearing the costume in front of the camera. Honestly, I didn’t get much time to prepare for the part. I followed what Krish (the original director) told me and based on whatever I could gather from the Internet. I had learnt horse riding while shooting for a Bengali film earlier and was trained in sword fighting on the set of Manikarnika.

You must have seen the transition as Kangana Ranaut took over the direction duties from Krish. Did the vision for the film change after the change in leadership? Is Kangana a better director or an actor?
No, the vision never changed. Kangana was focused and knew exactly what she wanted, as she was attached with this project since day one. She was associated with it even before Krish came on board, as Kamal Jain (producer) approached her first, before everyone else. She was the best choice to replace Krish, as he got busy with the NTR biopic. She was the only one who could take over and make it happen. However, I believe that Kangana is a great actress. She transforms in front of the camera. So, right now, I would rate her as a better actor than a director.

Is there any difference in working on a film, in which actresses make up the majority of the cast?
I don’t think about these things. I just focus on my character and how pivotal it is to the narrative. I don’t mind even a 10-minute role, if it’s important to the script. Gangadhar played an instrumental role in Rani Lakshmibai’s life. Also, it doesn’t matter if a film is headlined by one woman or 10. I have no problem with that. All I care about is that the audience should remember me for the character I play. I want to be part of content driven films in any language.

Many Bengali filmmakers, actors and actresses have had a lasting legacy in Hindi cinema. But, of late, male stars from Bengal haven’t dabbled with Bollywood at all. What could be the reason for that?
I think nobody from my generation, apart from Param (Parambrata Chatterjee) and I have tried to foray into Hindi films. Also, the movies have come to us, instead of us going out and asking for work. One needs to be in the city and know the right people, but we haven’t done that. You need to reach out to people, something that our generation hasn’t done. They haven’t pushed themselves to grow in Mumbai and do some good work here. Apart from Mithun da (Chakraborty), who shifted to Mumbai because he wanted to work here and made a mark for himself, the rest of us have always been working in Bengali cinema. After him, I guess it’s me who has been pushing myself to work in Bollywood.

There has been a paradigm shift in the kind of cinema you are associating with today, as opposed to your earlier films. A star can take those chances. Is it easy or do you still worry about success and failure of a film?
I am 100-films old. In my heyday, I have done a lot of commercial films, including dancing around the trees with the heroine. But after working with Rituparno Ghosh, my understanding of cinema changed. Whatever good I am doing, it is because of him. If I am being called a good actor, it is only because of him. I was really depressed after he passed away. It’s not that I don’t want to do a commercial film, I'll do it if the role matches my sensibilities. There is no particular reason for the shift and I certainly don’t consider myself a star. I would rather call myself an actor who has become a star, and would appreciate if people called me that, too. We have a lot of superstars, who are not actors, which holds true in every industry. People can become stars with their mannerisms and a few hit films; it’s their luck. Look, this industry is about luck more than talent; it’s 80 percent luck and 20 percent talent. I personally know many fabulous actors in Mumbai, who didn’t get a chance to prove their talent. Besides, the success or failure of a film doesn’t bother me. What bothers me and I get really tense is when the director says, ‘action’. I still get goose-flesh and butterflies in my stomach. It’s like appearing for an examination and I worry more about it than the result, because the latter isn’t in my hand.

What do you enjoy more today — commercial success or critical acclaim?
It goes hand-in-hand. I won’t say the money which my producer is getting isn’t making me happy. Of course, it does and that takes me to my next film. I am also happy that I am being critically appreciated with people talking good things about me. Most of my films in the last six or eight years have been critically acclaimed and have won several awards, but they didn’t make money. I am used to it now. These are films, which have travelled to major film festivals across the globe and I’ve got great reviews. This gives me a kick as an actor and makes me feel that I need to push myself to do better.