‘For a change, I played a character who resembles me in Kaushik Ganguly’s ‘Palan’, says Paoli Dam
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IBNS: Actress Paoli Dam is one of the leads in Kaushik Ganguly’s ‘Palan’, which pays a birth centenary tribute to late Mrinal Sen with the reprise of the roles from the filmmaking legend’s 1982 film ‘Kharij’. Ahead of the September 22 release, IBNS correspondent Souvik Ghosh catches up with Paoli on her debut project with Kaushik Ganguly and more at Tapaste — The Spanish Cafe in Kolkata
Excerpts…
Q. How much did ‘Kharij’ impact influence your acting in ‘Palan’?
A. No it didn’t because my character, Paoli (Paoli Sen), is Kaushik-da’s (Kaushik Ganguly) creation. Though the characters of Anjan-da (Anjan Dutt) and Mama-di (Mamata Shankar) were also created by Kaushik-da, the essence came from ‘Kharij’. So I didn’t feel any stress in that way. But I had a challenge to prove myself since it was my first film with Kaushik-da.
Q. Why did it take so long to work with Kaushik Ganguly?
A. I think everything has its own time. Nothing happens before its time. But it is better late than never. I am also happy that it has happened through ‘Palan’, which is a very important film in our present time, and talks about the modernisation of our basic lives in every aspect. So there are a lot of expectations involved with this project.
Paoli Dam (L) and Kaushik Ganguly (R)
Q. How was working with Kaushik Ganguly?
A. It was brilliant. I went with the flow. We actors have to go with a certain process and calculations in playing various roles. But to play Paoli Sen, I opted to go with instincts. I wanted to see what comes out of it. Kaushik-da’s direction is divine. He is very calm and knows what he needs from which actor.
Q. How different is Paoli Sen in ‘Palan’ from the characters you have played earlier?
A. The flavour of the character is very sweet and simple. So far, I have mostly played complex characters with a lot of layers. Actually, I love to experiment with a certain type of…
