Aparna Sen teams up with her real-life parner in 'Antaheen'

By Subhash K. Jha

Mumbai, July 22 (IANS) Well-known Bengali filmmaker Aparna Sen teams up with her real life husband Kalyan Ray, a professor in the United States, in Annirudh Roy-Chowdhary's second directorial venture "Antaheen".

Ray's long-distance marriage with Aparna has been so satisfying that he didn't hesitate for a minute in moving from academics to acting when she needed him to do so.

"At first Kalyan was naturally very hesitant. He had never acted before. What would a man of letters have to do with the motion-picture camera? But Reenadi (Aparna) and I were convinced Kalyan was the perfect choice for her husband's part," Roy-Chowdhary told IANS.

"And my hunch was right. Kalyan is awesome. The camera loves him. What a terrific screen presence he has," he added.

Kalyan plays his real-life wife's estranged husband in the Bengali film "Antaheen" and has some splendid moments of drama with his seasoned co-star.

It seems history is repeating itself. In 1984, Aparna had cast journalist Mukul Sharma, her then-husband, as the leading man in "Paroma". Mukul, who had absolutely no experience in acting, played Rakhee Gulzar's photo-journalist-lover in the movie. Aparna even shot a kiss between Rakhee and Mukul.

However, this time Aparna is on the same side of the camera as her husband.