Miss that era and craziness: Subhashree

It’s been a dream of her husband-director Raj Chakraborty since 2004 and actress Subhashree Ganguly is relieved that it has finally come true. For 20 years, Raj wanted to bring Buddhadeb Guha’s iconic story ‘Babli’ to the screen. Now, as the Bengali film completes its fifth week in theatres amidst challenging times with ongoing protests for justice in the RG Kar case, the team is pleased that their efforts have paid off.

“It has been Raj’s dream since 2004 to make ‘Babli’. Buddhadeb Guha said he would only give him the rights if he made it for the big screen. When the rights were given, COVID-19 struck. I remember Buddhadeb babu calling Raj and asking when he would start shooting. Our only regret is that we couldn’t show the film to him because he passed away in August 2021,” Subhashree said. She said how the author himself had suggested both Abir Chatterjee and her for the roles of Abhirup Sen and Babli, respectively.

In recent years, Subhashree has made a name for herself with projects like ‘Parineeta’, ‘Indubala Bhaater Hotel’ and ‘Dharmajuddha’. However, it goes without saying that hardcore masala films like ‘Challenge’, ‘Paran Jaaye Joliya Re’, ‘Romeo’, ‘Boss’ and ‘Khokababu’ brought her fame. She admits this and is open to doing such films again, but she now values characters with more depth, unlike the showpiece roles of the past. “I miss the era and craziness. I’m proud of those movies and understand that people miss seeing me in similar roles. I want to do masala films and more should be made here. But I’m also looking for roles that add value to my filmography. In ‘Challenge’ and ‘Paran Jaaye’, my characters were important, but now I’m focused on performance-oriented roles,” she said.

Raj is known for churning out some of the most successful mainstream commercial Bengali films in the last decade in Tollywood and the proud wife said, “Give him anything and he would make it larger-than-life. That’s his style.”