Exclusive! Bonbibi actress Parno Mittrah: Contesting an election is not a cakewalk but I will think over it if I am asked to

In Rajdeep Ghosh’s Bonbibi, Parno Mittrah’s character, Resham, celebrates womanhood, challenging several societal norms. “Resham – a widow from a remote village in Sunderban – falls in love, aspires for a better life, and empowers other women. She is brave,” said the actress. As Bonbibi gets ready to hit the theatre on March 8, the actress-politician talked to us about the film and her plans regarding the forthcoming Loksabha election. 

Bonbibi director Rajdeep Ghosh and Parno Mittrah have been friends since their TV days

Talking about Bonbini and the offer, Parno said that she shares a fabulous bond with the director. “Rajdeep and I have been friends since my television days. As they say, if you become friends during your TV days you are friends forever,” she laughs. “Later Rajdeep assisted Kaushikda (Ganguly). Meanwhile, I loved working with Ranada. The last time he offered me a role, was in 2013-14 and it was for Chotushkone. I had to give it a miss for some reason. Then there was a break for a long time. This time, I said yes," she said. 

Also read: Bonbibi teaser: Parno Mittrah, Sohini Sarkar’s drama sends chills down the spine 

Parno's love for the character

Parno also admitted that the character has intrigued her a lot. "The character is challenging and Resham’s journey is interesting. She is a widow but she dreams of a better life in some way. She learns a little bit of English, tries to work as a tour guide, and most importantly, challenges societal prejudice. Not only does she fall in love despite being a widow, but she also falls in love with someone younger than her. In our society, people can still accept older men with younger women as a partners. However, there is still a problem accepting older women romancing with younger men. But times are changing. People are slowly getting the idea that age has nothing to do with love,” she said. 

Depicting the chemistry between Resham and Himan

In the promotional videos of the film, Parno is seen romancing with Arya Dasgupta, who plays Himon in the film. Talking about shooting the intimate scene, Parno praised Arya. “You don’t need to really teach the younger generation. They are good. During the shooting of the scenes, I only guided him technically, like which way to look and how to grab my waist and pull towards him and make it believable on camera. The funny thing was that we had around 500 onlookers from the village,” she laughed and added, “Arya is a talented actor. He learnt how to play dhol (a drum), learnt choreography, and so on. I remember he used to keep on dancing even when he was out of frame and we used to joke about it,” Parno recalled. 

Also read: Exclusive! Bonbibi actor Arya Dasgupta: It was not easy to shoot intimate scenes with Parno Mittrah 

The actress also shot with another powerful actor Dibyendu Bhattacharya, who plays Dokkhin Roy, in the film. “He is very chilled out. We used to hang out together. In Sunderban, there was no vanity van, nothing. We were not scared as we were told that we were away from the tiger zone,” she said. 

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'Running an election is not easy'

Meanwhile, the Parliament elections are just around the corner. Will Parno, a known BJP supporter, contest the election? “I don’t know yet. Contesting an election is not a cakewalk. If I am asked to, I will think about it. I want to be better prepared,” the actor signed off.