Exclusive! Ridhima Ghosh on Seven: Hill stations are Anjanda’s USP and our comfort zone

Soon after the release of his film, Revolver Rohoshyo, Anjan Dutt is back with another tale of Friendship, betrayal, and sins, Seven, on Zee5. The web series features Ridhima Sen, Gaurav Chakrabarty, Rahul Arunodoy Banerjee, Suprobhat, Ankita Chakraborty, Sujan Mukhopadhyay, and Anjan. The show will drop on March 17. Ridhima, one of the veteran actresses in the Bengali OTT scene, talked to OTTplay about her character, her experience of working with Anjan, and a lot more. Read on…

Tell us about your character in Seven…

I play the character of Namita – the wife of Ananta, played by Suprobhat. Namita is a housewife but she dreams to open a boutique. She is in an unhappy marriage and Ananta is turning into an alcoholic. He has his share of frustration. He wanted to be a filmmaker but not he directs TV serials. Along with their childhood friends, they go on a trip where all the events start happening.

Anjan Dutt has a fascination with hills and on many of his creations – songs, films, and series – we have seen the dominant presence of North Bengal hill stations. How is Seven different?

Hill stations have become Anjanda’s USP. Almost all great directors have a signature and the same goes for Anjanda. There are certain things that define him. I have always been a fan of Anjanda and It has been a dream to work with him. For us, his signatures give us the comfort of familiarity. It is also nostalgic for us to follow him through the ideas that are part of our childhood memory.

How was your experience with Anjanda as a director of Seven?

Fascinating. I have never worked with a director as involved and passionate as he is. He is always submerged in the work he is doing – the characters and the shots. He constantly talks to us about the characters and as a result, we are always into the character we are playing without even realising it. Also, since he is an actor, he knows what an actor wants. He would never rush you and will give you the time to do basic preparations. It is a luxury as an actor to work with him. It is also an educational experience to work with him.

You have been working in the Bengali OTT space for years, almost since the beginning days. How do you see the journey?

We have come a long way. There was a time when only Hoichoi used to be the only platform. Now a national platform like Zee5 Bangla is established. I am sure there will be many more to come. The quality of content has gone up. There is a lot more to do, of course. You cannot see an OTT platform as a regional area. Like we watch content from across the globe with subtitles on, we would like to see people from other regions watching our content with subtitles. We are not there yet but we will reach.

Also read: Rahul Arunodoy Banerjee on Seven: Anjan Dutt has a deep influence on our generation 

You have been Satyabati for Hoichoi’s Byomkesh for years – for eight seasons. Is that journey coming to an end?

I cannot say anything about that. But the eighth season will be dropped in the summer. There will be announcements soon.