Bengal celebrates the female energy like nothing else-Vidya Balan

Vidya Balan holds forth on Pujo, Bengal and everything in between
Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; October 22, 2015)


Earliest memories associated with Durga Puja...
I remember walking into Pradeep Sarkar’s office the first time and I met someone at the reception. This girl, Paula Mukherjee, was singing. I told her she had a lovely voice and she told me she was from Kolkata. She had shifted to Mumbai now so she’s performing at a Durga Puja in Chembur. I lived in Chembur and this was during my ad film days. So I asked her, ‘Tell me when, I will come’. I went there to the Durga Puja to listen to Paula singing and that was the first time I had ever been to a Durga Puja pandal. I sat there for anjali and bhog and it was fascinating. In my school and college days, I used to try learning Bengali from my friends and I remember learning Aha Ki Anondo Akashe Batashe. I remember a friend’s mother once asking me whether I was in love with a Bengali because I was fascinated with the culture and I have always wanted to work with Satyajit Ray. In Standard 9, I had written a letter to him, but he passed away soon after. With every step, I was just getting closer to everything Bengali. Puja was yet another step. The Durga Puja in Chembur is still very big and it’s been a while since I’ve been there, but sobar mukh dekhe bhishon bhalo lagto (It’s really nice to see all the faces at the pandal) In Parineeta, there’s a shot where the Durga thakur is going into the water and you see my face emerging. There was an article saying my face was the reference that someone was using for a Durga thakur that year and I was like ‘Oh my God!’ Those are special memories of Durga Puja. Then I had Bhool Bhulaiyaa and of course, Kahaani happened. So unknowingly, somewhere Durga Puja was becoming an element of my life. Durga was becoming an important force in my life.

You shot for Kahaani before and after the Pujas in Kolkata...
For Kahaani, I saw the lead up to the Pujas. We had started shooting a little before Pujo and I saw the pandals coming up, suddenly people going shopping, New Market, Gariahat, the Punjabi House...All the excitement, the splendour of the Pujo. We would go out in our cars and by then the team would have done a reccee of which pandals we will be shooting in. Then suddenly, I would be walking in the pandal like any regular person with Setu and his camera, full of assistants here and there. Most of the times, people were caught completely unaware that I was shooting for a film there. Then over the years, I have gone back so many times, attended a few Durga pujas in Kolkata. This year, I’m just about missing it. So when I go to shoot for TE3N, even Kali Puja will be over.

You never got mobbed?
Yes, I did almost. Near Padmapukur somewhere. It was like a mela, that too 10.30 at night, I was walking and suddenly one person realised that it was me and the word started spreading. But by the time everyone knew, I finished my shot and left.

As a child, did you celebrate Durga Puja?
No, in our house, among South Indians, we celebrate Navratri. So for nine days, it’s a South Indian ritual that we collect all the dolls of the house and we make nine steps and decorate those steps with dolls. We use various concepts and fill the steps with different memorabilia we pick up from here and there. There are various concepts and stories one presents through the presentation. It could be mythological, or anything else. People would use those toy train tracks as well. Tamil Brahmins collect dolls from various places to decorate this place. Women visit each others’ houses, haldi-kumkum hota hai, roz ek chane ka prasad banta hai. We never had the nine steps in our house but we had a symbol of it which is one man and one woman, both the figurines are decorated and uski puja hoti hai, It’s the time when houses are full of women. There are beautiful kanjeevaram sarees, plaited hair with kajal and bindi, flowers in their hair, with a lot of jewellery and it’s all about woman power.

Do you still continue celebrating Navratri at home?
Yes, it happens here (in her Khar house) in my parents’ house, my sister and brother-in-law’s house, they do this. Subah puja hoti hai, through the day there are women coming in. Its difficult to travel cities these days so there’s one specific day when one person calls everyone home. And it’s decided by a group discussion with all relatives ki kaun kis din apne ghar bulayega. That pratha has continued. Everyone came home last Saturday.

Has anyone from your family experienced the Durga Puja fervour?
No but we all went to Biswajeet’s Durga Puja on Saptami. I haven’t actually been to any other Durga Puja in Bombay before. So he called me this year and I went. Sidharth has been saying that he wants to go to Kolkata during Durga Puja and I was hoping it would work out this year. But he’s busy with Beauty and the Beast and he could not come. My sister has been wanting the same and all of them feel that we should all go together because I know so much more about Pujo and the streets of Kolkata.

How much of Kolkata have you imbibed in your real life?
For me, having been born and brought up in Mumbai, I love the vibe of Ganesh Chaturthi. The other festival I really love is Durga Puja in Kolkata. Yes, Navratri happens at home every year. I love the fact that we are celebrating the Goddesses and the female energy at this time. Every girl who comes in is given haldi kumkum and even my little neice who’s just 4 is as excited. She wants to wear ghagra choli everyday. And she’s been telling everyone her name is Kali. My mom’s name is Saraswati and my neice’s name is Ira which is another name for Saraswati. I think I have definitely imbibed a lot of it. I feel Bengal celebrates the feminine energy like none else. I think that is something I’m understanding now.

Is Durga instinctively your favourite diety?
Absolutely. I don’t know the myth of Durga very well, I just know it in bits and pieces. And I know bits and pieces of Kali. The interesting thing is that so far, it has been Durga for me but suddenly I am waking up to Kali. I have actually gone to Kalighat every time I have been to Kolkata. Two instances when I didn’t visit Kalighat, I was heartbroken. Once I was not well and once it rained out. So obviously, there’s a Kali connect as well. Durga is beautiful and powerful and you can’t not like her. I love that combination and I believe that every woman is beautiful the way she is and has the power within. I have always connected with Durga. Now, I am waking up to Kali form also. I feel she’s extremely sensuous and powerful also.

In Kolkata, many popular actors are roped in each year to play Durga on Mahalaya. Have you ever been approached for it?
I was approached for it this year itself. But it didn’t work out. See, because I am not a dancer, I wanted time to rehearse. They wanted to rehearse and shoot at the same time so it didn’t work out. But hopefully next year. If they give me a couple of days of rehearsal, I’ll be more than happy to do it. I am dying to do it this year too. They could not give me the time to practice because they had to get it ready on time.

Have you ever gone pandal hopping?
I have done it in Kolkata. Especially because we used to be shooting nights for Kahaani, so when people had gone off to sleep at the pandals is when I would get out of my car, go and visit the pandals and take darshan. So I have visited the smallest and biggest of the pandals in Kolkata.

Which is your favourite day of the festival?
For me, it has to be Durga Ashtami. Because that I think is the most powerful day during the entire festival. That’s the Bengali side of things. Also, we do this Saraswati Puja which happens on the ninth day of Navratri. As a kid, that used to be my favourite day because that day, you are not supposed to study. You got a break and it would be invariably during exams. My sister and I would be overjoyed. There’s also a prasad which we call Panchamrit made of five different things - sugar, honey, raisins, banana and elaichi. I love it even now but I find it too sweet. That was the highlight of Navratri that on Saraswati Puja day, you are not supposed to touch your books. But on Bijoya or Vijaya Dashami, you get your books back and if you also learn music or dance, then you visit your gurus that day, take their blessings and learn something new that day. Even today, my mother, sister and I sing a song although I don’t learn music anymore. We sit and sing a carnatic piece on Dashami.

Have you ever been a part of the Sindoor Khela after getting married?
No, I haven’t got the chance. I hope I organise it someday but I won’t limit it to married women. Also I love red which is why the image of Durga and Kali is always fresh in my mind. I love it at Kalighat because you get a hibiscus flower back. And if I get one of those malas, I am over the moon. Also, the big iron bangles they give.