Jaya Bachchan with Konkona Sen Sharma on the sets of Sunglass; (below) Jaya with Rituparno Ghosh. Pictures by Aranya Sen

There has been talk of you doing a film with Rituparno Ghosh for some time now. How did Sunglass finally work out?

The reason behind doing Sunglass is to break the jinx. We have been wanting to work together for a long time but couldn’t. We were actually planning another film when Ritu asked me to do this role.

He had narrated this film to me around 10 years ago. Isn’t that so, Ritu? [‘Yes, she would have done Konkona’s role then. I had approached her when I was doing Hirer Angti. But she said she wasn’t working in films anymore… The other project we are planning is an English film where Jayadi will probably be the only Indian actor,’ says Rituparno].

So, hopefully, this is the beginning.

Is this the first time you are shooting for two versions simultaneously?

Yes, it’s been only two days. I am getting my teeth into the whole thing and I think I will manage with a little bit of time. The last Bengali film I did was Raja Sen’s Desh…

You see, it’s a bit difficult for me because I don’t get to speak Bengali unless I am with a set of Bengali people. We don’t speak Bengali at home. And I never lived in Calcutta . So I have to mould it (her lines) differently. probashi Bangalis speak words in a different tone. You are hesitant maybe, and you tend to look for words.

But I think if I have to play a role which has me born and brought up in Calcutta, I will have to live here for a little while. That’s what I feel; I don’t know what my directors think.

What other projects do you have lined up?

I am not a planner. Planning never works for me. I have seen so many sudden things happening with me. I feel more comfortable if I follow things as they come.

But you are doing the Pradeep Sarkar film (co-starring Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee, Konkona Sen Sharma and Kunal Kapoor)…

Yes, I am. But I can’t say for sure, unless I am shooting for it...

I was supposed to shoot for Sunglass in September, but my mother-in-law had taken ill. She was in hospital and my husband and son were not in Mumbai then. I wouldn’t have been at ease if I had come here to shoot. I need to be completely relaxed the minute I am entering the studio. I was mentally prepared for Ritu replacing me with someone...

[In fact, even the Sunglass location was changed on Jaya’s suggestion. Says Rituparno: ‘We had planned an outdoor shoot where Sunglass gets its resolution but Jayadi thought the mountains would have robbed a lot from the film. She persuaded me to change that portion after reading the script. We shot the scenes on the Vidyasagar Setu, instead’].

I thought the mountains were too poetic for a metro film. Sunglass is very metro-centric in thought, in every way.

You play Konkona’s mother. How would you define your character?

She’s a very confident, independent woman. When you add background, change the environment, change the inter-personal relationships, the character changes too.

You know, sometimes some films remain in the mind, some situations and characters remain in you. I had seen Volver (directed by Pedro Almodovar) and I loved the film. I have got so much out of that… the mother-daughter relationship… Khub bhalo… That gave me a lot of incentive for a lot of roles I do…

I am getting offers of only mother’s roles, unfortunately! For all these, I have taken the essence from that film. It’s not really copying, but taking out the essence and keeping it in me.

What is the motivating factor behind picking the handful of films you do?

You know I have become so set now that I need a good producer and a director with whom I get along. Only then do I work in a film.