I plan to do some face corrections: Swastika Mukherjee

With actress Swastika Mukherjee, what you see is exactly what you get. There’s no pretence. Whether it’s calling out a chef for serving stale mashed potatoes at a hotel (that actually happened during our chat on a sultry evening in Kolkata) or pointing at her laugh lines and saying, ‘These need fixing’, she doesn’t hold back.

The ‘Tasher Ghawr’ actress never misses a beat when it comes to promoting her work, even if the behind-the-scenes experience wasn’t all smooth sailing. Take her recent Bengali film ‘Durgapur Junction’. She’s upfront in saying the director had ‘no role’ in the final 25 minutes. Most actors would have sugar-coated that, done the PR bit, smiled for the cameras and moved on. But she doesn’t let things slide if credit is due.

Swastika has also got a thing for thrillers, loves throwing herself into completely different roles and is already clued in on trending stuff like ‘Ozempic’, the latest weight-loss buzzword. Bottom line? Swastika’s just being Swastika - bold, honest and completely unbothered. Excerpt from a chat:

Your latest Bengali release ‘Durgapur Junction’ looks like a medical thriller. Are you fond of medical thrillers?

(Cuts in) I’m just fond of thrillers, whether they’re medical, psychotic or anything else. As long as it’s a thriller, I’m game. I think I’ve watched almost every thriller available on OTT. My daughter even calls and tells me I need help.

Which was the last thriller you loved?

The Gardener.

(She gets excited just talking about the Spanish romantic thriller. We mention that the correspondent recently watched the latest season of ‘Black Mirror’ and had a tough time taking it all in. It was the same in her case as she couldn’t sleep after watching S7 episode 1 ‘Common People’ of ‘Black Mirror’)

Director Arindam Bhattacharya tells us he’ll start working on the prequel to ‘Shibpur’ in May. You’ve done back-to-back films including ‘Durgapur Junction’ with him. Will you be a part of the prequel too?

I don’t believe anything Arindam says.

Why’s that?

(Cuts in) Simply because I don’t understand what he says. So, I can’t believe it.

But he directed you in ‘Shibpur’ and ‘Durgapur Junction’.

A big part of ‘Durgapur Junction’ has been directed by the team - the DOP Prosenjit Choudhury, the chief AD, other crew members, Vikram Chatterjee (actor) and myself. It’s a film Arindam should have directed. Honestly, the title card should say, ‘Directed by the whole team and Arindam’. The climax wasn’t even shot by Arindam. It’s true. It was very hot - he was unwell and was sleeping. We had to rewrite the entire climax because the original wasn’t strong enough. Also, I feel Arindam doesn’t give credit where it’s due. It’s unfortunate that at the trailer or teaser launch, he didn’t invite anyone from the team. When asked, he said he had invited many people. I told him I’d go home and check. I did and nobody knew anything about it.

We liked how ‘Shibpur’ turned out as a film.

Even for that film, there was a lot of contribution in the directorial department from the actors and cinematographer Prosenjit Choudhury. As for ‘Durgapur Junction’, I think Arindam should give 100 percent credit to Vikram and me as additional dialogue writers. But then, he never shows that kind of gratitude toward his team. So, I’m showing gratitude to myself… on behalf of the director. In the last 25 minutes of ‘Durgapur Junction’, Arindam had no role. He wasn’t even present during the shoot.

Now, that could go against the film, don’t you think?

Not at all. We’ll take the onus if it turns out badly. The entire team will as he had no role in those 25 minutes.

In the last interview, you mentioned how you consider the cast and crew before taking up a project. Do you also get involved in distribution?

Yes, I ask about it. Some films don’t require us to get involved in distribution. But there are others where we feel we must because the director and producer show zero interest. I came all the way from South Kolkata to Central Kolkata today and I didn’t see a single ‘Durgapur Junction’ poster, forget hoardings. I asked the director and he said, “Nothing will matter.” So, I really don’t know what to expect.

How do you approach your acting - improvisation or spontaneity?

I’m an intuitive actor. I don’t prep. The only time I did prep was for ‘LSD 2’ because Dibakar Banerjee wanted me to.

Even for emotionally intense roles like in ‘Qala’?

I’ve got switches of every kind. I’ve become a pro at knowing exactly which switch to flip.

We heard Brinda, your character from ‘Nikhoj’, might be back.

I’ve told ‘Hoichoi’ not to waste the character of Brinda. Let her take on more cases. We built a character that’s so powerful. She has a great fan following. When ‘Nikhoj 2’ was released, many fans posted on ‘Facebook’ that Brinda should be solving other cases. So, we are in talks with director Ayan Chakraborti.

Would you consider doing a hardcore masala movie now?

If I have to work with a mainstream hero, I want to do a full-on masala film. I want to dance like a mad woman. I don’t want it to be intense, serious or ‘very sensible’. I want to wear chiffon sarees and dance my life out (laughs out loud).

Beauty With Brains

There’s been speculation about Bollywood celebrities like Karan Johar using ‘Ozempic’ for weight loss.

(Laughs) I’ve done my research on ‘Ozempic’ and everything. It’s not currently available in India. Only the injection is available and that too in the black market. But I’m scared of injections, so I can’t go for it. But I will keep on researching.

You've openly spoken about fillers.

Yes, I also plan to do some face correction after I wrap up the two films (Sayantan Ghoshal and Arjun Dutta’s next) I’m shooting. I’m getting these two lines around my lips - the laugh lines and lip lines, which are completely age-related. I don’t want them to disappear entirely, just want to reduce their intensity. They look like two parallel tracks on my face (laughs). I’m getting older, so I’ll do that correction. And I’ll post a before and after photo because we need to normalise this. It’s not like you’re putting a kilo of gel into your lips and looking like an orangutan. That’s a problem. But if you’re doing genuine corrections because you’re in the film business and you want your face to survive longer, then you should do it. And I will. I’ll tell the world I did it. Everyone does it. People think only film personalities go for it, but that’s far from the truth. You go to a clinic and see people from all walks of life getting procedures done.