‘Gender and sexuality is a spectrum’: Konkona Sensharma

If you take a glance at Konkona Sen Sharma’s filmography, one thing that is evident is that the actress has rarely ever done a role for the heck of it. Early on in her career, she received the National Award for her role in Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002), growing from strength to strength in movies such as Page 3 (2005), Omkara (2006), Life in a...Metro (2007), Wake Up Sid (2009), Talvar (2015) and Lipstick Under My Burkha (2017). Many of her critically-acclaimed films, however, are not mainstream and the actor-director tells us that it’s not something she strived for anyway. “Due to my upbringing (she is acclaimed filmmaker-actress Aparna Sen’s daughter) and sensibilities, I didn’t relate to the bulk of the mainstream cinema being produced when I was growing up. It’s not something I identified with, so it’s not something I could see myself having a place in. I was also not somebody who really wanted to act. I wanted to direct. So, it was not like I was seeking a certain acceptance within mainstream cinema to begin with,” she says. That said, the National Award-winning actress has done an interesting mix of movies from across genres and languages. “There are a few that were a gamble and did not work,” she admits, adding that she has done around 45 films, some of them not so good. “So, the thought is to take chances and try out a few things,” says the 39-year-old.  

Her role in Tanuja Chandra’s short film, A Monsoon Date, in which she plays a transperson, is certainly in keeping with that thought. Konkona tells us that she was excited about the prospect of understanding the journey one takes to becoming another gender. Over to Koko, as she’s fondly called...

Were there any apprehensions in your mind before taking on this role? 

None whatsoever. I just wondered what the process is, what the journey is from being born a certain gender to becoming a different gender. But also, the script does not really dwell on that so much. This is after she is already a woman. Initially, Tanuja just told me the premise and I thought it was exciting. Then when she gave me the script, there was no doubt in my mind about doing it.

Was there any mental prep required for it?

I wanted to get to know the character better, so I did some research. I also spoke to screenwriter Gazal Dhaliwal (a transwoman herself) to find out about her experiences, what surgeries she had and the counselling she may have underwent, and try to build background for the character. It was helpful to know where she was coming from.

(Konkona Sensharma in A Monson Date)

Why do you think stories related to gender and sexuality need to be told?

There are several reasons. We don’t live in a primitive society any more. Many of us are lucky enough to be educated. We also realise that gender and sexuality is a spectrum. Not everybody is exactly the same, and superficially, we are all different in different ways. The common thread is the humanity that binds us. 

Stories like these also tell us that love can happen to anyone, it doesn’t matter if you’re male, female, rich or poor, Hindu or Muslim. This quest for love, the losses that come along the way, these are things that all of us face, but there is hardly any representation of this section in our media, in our culture. I feel that’s a big problem because all of us contribute to society. There are only certain kinds of people who are shown falling in love. It’s by and large always heterosexual, it is either thin or fair people. It’s not like that in the real world. In fact, it gives us another perspective. People are so scared to show their feelings when they are in love and so insecure about being accepted and loved for who they are. Here is this woman who has so much at stake and she is so brave. Her courage can really be inspiring. It makes us understand our world and ourselves better.

You are part of Seema Pahwa’s Pind Daan and Alankrita Shrivastava’s Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare. Tell us a bit about those films. 

I was offered these two fantastic gems by these two fantastic women. And I’m so excited I got to play these two interesting women. They are not run-of-the-mill characters at all.

Your directorial debut A Death In The Gunj was critically acclaimed. Are you working on something next? 

I don’t want to make a film for the sake of it. I’m cooking something, let’s see what happens. If I can’t, I won’t because I don’t have to. Unless I think I can manage to make something decent, I won’t.