Veteran actor and critically acclaimed director Aparna Sen feels her daughter Konkona Sen Sharma is a far more talented actress than she is. Konkona, a national award-winning star, has more versatility according to Aparna, who has acted in around 40 films and directed around 10 movies. “She is a much better actress than me. She is very versatile and has great intensity,” Aparna told After Hours on the sidelines of the ongoing 10th Osian’s Film Festival in New Delhi.

She adds: “She has played a wide array of characters and has done many more interesting films. The problem with our generation was that we were doing more formulaic movies and people were not ready to experiment. But now the filmmakers are experimenting a lot, they are coming up with brilliant scripts that are giving a lot of scope to the actors to showcase their talent. In our times, such films were a rarity.”

Putting it all together
Aparna says she is currently busy with the post production of her forthcoming directorial venture The Japanese Wife that has Rahul Bose and Raima Sen in the lead.

The film will release shortly. I’m currently busy with a little bit of post production. There is a slight problem that I’m facing. My actors are so scattered around that bringing them together is taking time. One actor is in Japan, Rahul is in Mumbai and Raima is sometimes in Kolkata and sometimes in Mumbai,” she says.

Adapting to the times
The Japanese Wife is an adaptation of Kunal Basu’s short story of the same title. Isn’t Aparna worried about the fact that most adaptations are panned by critics and bomb at the box office?

“You have to be very careful when your film is an adaptation of a novel or a short story or a play. It  should not be a pictorial transformation of the novel. What is important is to make a film that has the essence of the original,” she adds.

All in the family
But the biggest news from her end is that Aparna Sen will return to the silver screen after a gap of six years in a Bengali film Antoheen by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury (of Anuranan fame). Her last film was Titli (Bengali) in 2002. Antoheen will also see her current husband Kalyan Ray act opposite her.

“I’m very happy to return to the silver screen and the best part is that I’m acting opposite my husband in the film. I play a very upmarket woman — I’m actually a marketing director who lives alone despite being married,” she says.

Aparna adds: “It is not that I don’t love my husband in the film but we both decide to live separately. However, towards the end of the film there is a suggestion hat we might land up staying together.”

And is a masala Bollywood film coming from her side soon? “Not at all. I can never direct a formulaic masala film with unnecessary song and dance. But I will take those actors and make my kind of film,” she ends.