Nandana Sen

Nandana: How can I justify censoring myself?

PRIYANKA DASGUPTA , TNN, Dec 7, 2009, 12.00am IST

 

How do you avoid a superiority complex when you have a dad who is invited by Barack Obama for dinner?
I’m tremendously proud of both my parents, but my sense of self-worth is entirely independent of them both. I’ve never believed in reflected glory — it’s always been a priority for me to make my own way. Since childhood, I’ve been a pretty confident girl and willing to take chances. I’m sure both of them had a lot to do with instilling that courage and self-assurance in me. But I’m not the kind of person who would ever have a superiority complex.

Considering that your Rang Rasiya and another film — Makara Manju — deal with the life of Raja Ravi Varma, does competition bother you?
Not at all. I know that Rang Rasiya is extraordinary and absolutely unlike any other film. Secondly, I’ve always been very positive as a person — it takes a lot for me to feel insecure. I am vulnerable only when it comes to the people I love. Nothing else in the world — neither the competition nor the glitz — is important enough to get stressed, is it?

Recently, an article mentioned that Kareena Kapoor had wanted the lovemaking scenes from Kurbaan deleted from the print that was meant for her mom. Did you ever harbour such thoughts about the daring scenes of yours from Rang Rasiya?
Not even for a second did I feel that way. I’m proud of Ketan Mehta’s important and outstanding film, and loved playing Sugandha. But yes, there is one moment in the film in which the muse inspires the artist by posing for him. I am quite a private and shy girl and so, making the decision to accept the role was difficult. In fact, the biggest help in making that decision came from my family — both my parents felt that the scene in question is the emotional and political heart of the story (the Censor Board agreed!) and that the film would not be true to itself without it. In a film dealing with censorship, how can I justify censoring myself? So, by the time I did the scene, I was fully in character. I was not the shy girl Nandana, but the iconoclast Sugandha, who broke all the rules of her time by the sheer power of her extraordinary courage and conviction. Why would I wish to hide any aspect of Sugandha’s personality?