Lights, Camera, Actress: Tropa returns to the screen
Tropa speaks about her experience working with a new generation of actors as well as other aspects of the production process
With '9 April', Kaushik Shankar Das directed his first everweb series, which debuted on the Binge app on the 4th of February. Actress Tropa Majumdar stars in this original screenplay penned by Hasnat Bin Matin. She returns in front of the lens after a long hiatus.
Other cast members alongside Tropa include Zakia Bari Mamo, Toma Mirza, Shohel Mondol, Sadika Swarna, Arefin Jilani, Hindol Roy, Nipa Khan, and many more.
Tropa Majumdar expressed her gratitude and delight in returning to her beloved craft after such a long sabbatical. It was her first time working with all these actors as well as director Kaushik Shankar Das.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
She said her motivation to join the cast of the six-episode limited series was her friendship with the director. Even though she had never seen any of his work before, the director was adamant in securing Majumdar for the role. After reading the script she agreed to join in enthusiastically.
Most of her scenes in the series are with Shohel Mondol.
"He is a very earnest and sincere actor and was my longest running scene partner on this project," she said. "On set, each sequence must carry its own emotion. What I found convenient was how Shohel and I built those emotions up together and carried them along through those sequences."
"If the director said 'cut' or if the director did not like the sequence, both of us tried to hold on to the emotions. It was a pleasure to work with him."
Tropa Majumdar is now busy with her job at Expressions Advertising Agency and hence the hiatus. After finishing office, she spends the rest of her time at her theatre company.
"Between my day job duties and my passion for the theatre there simply aren't enough hours in the day. For shooting, you have to give the whole day, which is a bit hard. I allot my time to the theatre from afternoon till night. It is the place I love the most, which is why I invest most of my time there."
Recently, however, she rediscovered her passion for the screen.
"Our films are evolving. We are also garnering success and recognition from many parts of the world. Also, many original series are being produced. I feel good seeing this. All this has reignited my passion to work now. This has made me more interested in movies. I look at some characters on the screen and wonder to myself if I could fit alongside their ensembles."
She really enjoys the body of work being done by actors of the current generation.
"A lot of good work is being done now. Now there are more places and opportunities to work. Before, there were only television channels. But now, we have OTT, YouTube, and various other platforms popping up every year. And when I see the work being done currently, I feel they are all smart and capable of acting," Tropa added.
She believes that the artistes should use all the mediums available to them proactively while maintaining the storytelling traditions of our culture, and moving forward by improving production quality.
Tropa hinted she will be working on a few more projects in the future.
