Calcutta plays host to the music release of Rituparna Sengupta’s next Bolly film.

(From left) Rohit Roy, Rituparna Sengupta and Gulshan Grover at HHI on Monday. Picture by Aranya Sen
It’s not every day that Calcutta is the chosen destination for the music launch of a Bollywood film. The cast and crew of Mittal v/s Mittal came calling on Monday, egged on by a Calcutta connect – Tollywood queen bee Rituparna Sengupta plays the protagonist in this Karan Razdan family drama. “Ritu bulaaye aur hum na aaye aisa ho hi nahin sakta,” said Razdan, the man behind small-budget films Hawas, Girlfriend and Souten. Slated for a March 19 release, Mittal v/s Mittal also stars Rohit Roy and Gulshan Grover.

Rohit Roy

I play Karan Mittal, a man with two faces. For the world, he is a successful and moralistic man and a loving husband, but in reality, he is a disturbed personality who abuses his wife both physically and mentally, ultimately resorting to marital rape. Karan is a male chauvinist who believes that his wife belongs to him and he can do whatever he wants with her. Even in these modern times, we hear about these things all the time and I am happy that Karan (Razdan) chose me to play this character. In real life, I am diametrically opposite to the character I play in the film. All my life I have been surrounded by women – my mother, my wife, my daughter, and I respect them. Although Mittal v/s Mittal has been in the making for a while now, the concept and the treatment is extremely fresh. Rituparna is an amazing co-star and to share screen space with a National Award winner automatically compels you to better your own performance.

Rituparna Sengupta

It’s not everyday that an actress gets to play a role as strong and multi-dimensional as Mitali Mittal. Every girl gets into marriage with so many expectations, but she doesn’t really know what lies in store for her. I was elated when Karan approached me with the character of Mitali because here is a hard-hitting role that allows me to portray a gamut of emotions. I haven’t done any research for this film nor have I watched any other film with a similar theme because I trusted my director’s vision implicitly. I have played Mitali in exactly the same manner as Karan Razdan envisioned her.

Gulshan Grover

I play the role of Harish Salunke, a lawyer. Although not an overtly negative character, Salunke is someone who can’t fathom that something like marital rape exists in society. His one question throughout the film is, “How can a husband rape his wife?” I loved working on Mittal v/s Mittal because Karan Razdan is a director who guides his actors, but never reins them in. I got a lot of creative freedom to play my character, something that doesn’t happen in an average Bollywood film. Both Ritu and Rohit are extremely supportive and giving co-stars. I haven’t had so much fun working in a film in a long time.

Karan Razdan

I came to know about marital rape in 2004 and spent three years researching it before I started working on the film in 2007. In today’s time of candyfloss romances and big-budget releases, I am hopeful that the audience likes and accepts my film. People keep asking me about what my message for Women’s Day is. All I can say is that, ‘My message is not in a line or two. My message is the film Mittal v/s Mittal’.”

Source: The Telegraph