Moushumi Chatterjee is very excited with the way her role has been appreciated in Piku. The bubbly actress tells Deebashree Mohanty that if the script appeals to her, she is ready to try out new challenges. Chatterjee says she has been fortunate to work with the best in the industry
She maybe 60-years-old but Moushumi Chatterjee is still very child like. Her exuberance and sense of humour is widely appreciated by everyone in the industry. “I am fortunate to have worked with many big directors at that time. It’s been a wonderful journey for me and I have no complaints from life,” Chatterjee says from Mumbai. She has been busy promoting her latest film, Piku with Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone but Moushumi says it was the script and Shoojit Sircar’s belief that made her give the nod.
“It was a brilliant story. I was laughing all the way through. At first, I was only amused but later I got emotional too. The script had a lot of soul. Something that has been missing in films nowadays. I connected with the script and decided this was the right film for me to attempt,” she recalls. Chatterjee is happy with the response the film has got in the initial few weeks. She is more thrilled that her role was appreciated by many new age filmmakers.
Chatterjee rose to instant fame with her film Roti, Kapda Aur Makaan starring stalwarts Manoj Kumar, Shahi Kapoor and Zeenat Aman in 1974. A film that won her the Best Supporting Actress nomination in the coveted Filmfare Awards. She says she had been lucky to get such mind blowing roles so early on in her career. “I have worked with some of the big names during my prime and I take it as a great honour. The characters of the yore were not like the typical ones that we get to see today. I feel there was a real element back then,” she says.
Playing the mausi to Deepika in Piku was like cake walk for the seasoned Bengali beauty. “It was a good role and Shoojit made it even more so when he gave us the license to improvise. I have always been open to learning from my co-stars and that has worked in my favour. Similarly, in this film, I have learnt a lot from Deepika and Irrfan,” she says. What about Amitabh Bachchan with whom she has acted in many films before thisIJ “I am in awe of Amitji. He is an inspiration for me and the entire industry,” she says.
Moushumi Chatterjee has never been very hung up about the type of roles she wanted to do. For her, family was always the top priority. “I was 18 years old when I had my first daughter. Since then I have learnt how to manage my work and home. Being a woman, this is intrinsic,” she tells you. Chatterjee bursts into peals of laughter, something that has been her characteristics. She has been known in the industry to be a very naughty and chirpy young girl and Chatterjee still carries that impression about herself. “I may not have many friends from within the industry but I don’t have any foes either. Which is a good thing,” she laughs out loud, adding that she takes it as a compliment when people call her the mischievous Moushumi. “It means I am still very young in people’s mind,” she tells you.
The vivacious lady is humbled with the response she has received and promises to be back very soon with more such surprise performances.