By Rituparna Sengupta Basu
She always wanted to become an actor, to be specific, a performer. Anything remotely associated with performance was her thing. Strong, independent women, not afraid to pursue their passion, always inspired her so much. Yes, you got it right, she is none other than ‘Network Girl’-Rini Ghosh. In a cosy tale, she just opened up about herself and Network.
Expresso: How did you enter the showbiz industry? Do you always want to be an actor?
Rini Ghosh: I started modelling during my college years at Bhawanipur Education Society. Our college has a fantastic fashion department and I was lucky enough to be a part of it. We had a spectacular staff of teachers and they left no stone unturned when it came to walking, speaking, posing, posturing and even presenting ourselves in front of people. I soon joined KFTI as an acting student and started doing auditions. I guess that’s how everything began.
Yes, I always wanted to be an actor. A performer. A dancer. Anything remotely associated with performance was my thing. I would see these incredible women like Julia Roberts, Rani Mukherji, Priyanka Chopra, Konkona Sen Sharma and many more on screen and I would love how empowered they are. Strong, independent women not afraid to pursue their passion inspired me so much that I knew I had to get in this industry. I didn’t know when or how. But I just had to be a part of it.
Expresso: Tell us about the experience in working with Saswata Chatterjee and Sabyasachi Mukherjee in Network?
Rini Ghosh: Undoubtedly some of the best days of my life. I wish the shooting went on and on just so we could spend more time with these two spectacular legends. Saswata da and Sabyasachi da are the two pillars of Network and casting them together as arch nemesis is the most amazing factor of our movie. We have seen them together on screen and off but never have we seen them engaged in an epic battle of wits and power that doesn’t use any weapon. Not even a slap. But is equally mind-blowing. Acting with them in the same scene is a dream come true for any person who wants to be an actor. But hearing them enact the lines that I once co-wrote with the director long, long back is the best feeling ever. EVER!!! I would happily go on writing for Apu and Benu da as many times I can just to be in their presence and learn.
Expresso: How Network came up to you?
Rini Ghosh: A couple of years earlier actually. The director of our movie, Saptaswa Basu, and I decided to start bouncing around ideas that one day we might be able to work on. Since thriller is something he worked with in his previous short films, we decided to keep thriller as the central key genre and build a story around it. One thing we were certain of is to try and cast Saswata da as the main protagonist. No matter what. Another key idea was to pay tribute to the Film and Television Industry. We all have been always surrounded by movies and shows of all sorts and languages and it would be amiss if the first work isn’t about the industry.
Expresso: Apart from acting you also written the screenplay as well. How was the experience?
Rini Ghosh: An extremely enriching, learning and crazy experience. It’s an irony how I can’t really define in words the journey of how we all wrote this epic saga. Starting from our DoP to Apu da, we collectively worked at this extremely complex story and it just happened. Certainly, the journey hasn’t been easy and the writing took some time but we did it. The puzzle pieces just fit right eventually. Now looking back at those days when we would argue for hours over one scene, I can’t believe how we managed to pull this off! There’s romance, drama, comedy, thrill. It’s crazy.
Expresso: What is the USP of Network?
Rini Ghosh: The fact that it’s daring enough to talk about how privacy is broken. And how we have entangled in it is I believe Network’s USP. How narcissism is actually the mother of nihilism and how our self-obsessed selves are too ignorant to see it is I believe the crux of the story. Besides of course the “Feluda v/s Topse” part obviously.
Expresso: Tell us something about your lifestyle website LSF?
Rini Ghosh: I started writing about relationships and sex quite inspired by ‘Sex and the City’. Soon however I shifted to fashion because it felt effortless and kind of my area. I have always been a fashion enthusiast and talking or writing about what trend is in felt quite adventurous. I’m taking a small break because all my time has been dedicated to Network. And I’m quite lazy too. But I’ll soon start blogging again and my first one will be the Network Look book talking about the styling and costume of the four main characters that I did in the movie. Starting from Saswata Chatterjee, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Indrajit Mazumdar and myself.
Expresso: Your dream role would be.
Rini Ghosh: Too many to count. Julia Roberts from ‘Pretty Woman’ and ‘Erin Brockovich’, Vidya Balan from ‘Kahaani’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ and ‘The Dirty Picture’, Priyanka Chopra from ‘Aitraaz’ and Konkona Sen Sharma from ‘Dosar’.
Expresso: An actor you had a crush on while growing up?
Rini Ghosh: Shah Rukh Khan and Johnny Depp.
Expresso: When you are not acting you are…
Rini Ghosh: Reading. Netflix and chilling and quite possibly dancing!
Expresso: Tell us about your upcoming projects?
Rini Ghosh: Writing two screenplays for two extremely different projects. Hopefully will be sharing the news soon.
Expresso: Describe yourself in a hashtag?
Rini Ghosh : #rambunctious #vivacious #crazy
