Barkha Sengupta on OTT, TV and films: National television contents are very regressive

Barkha Sengupta started her career as an actress on TV in early 2000. After working extensively on television and Bollywood and Bengali films for more than 20 years, the actress has started working on OTT as well. Barkha is currently gearing up for the release of Arjunn Dutta’s Shrimati in which she plays the character of Mallika. The family drama also features Swastika Mukherji, Trina Saha and Soham Chakraborty. 

Barkha says that she finds a huge difference between the content and styles of TV, Films and ORR. Stating that OTT is her favourite, she also says that the content of National TV serials is regressive. “The stories told on national television are very regressive. It has its reason. It caters to those who constantly deal with kitchen politics and hence they are connected to the contents easily,” she says. 

She further points out that film contents are broader than TV. However, she states that films are usually driven by their performance at the box office. Talking about OTT, she said that storytelling on web platforms is usually brilliant. “The OTT content is often character-driven. A heroine is also an integral character in an OTT content,” says Barkha, who has recently worked on Kamini on the Bengali streaming platform, Hoichoi.  

Will there be a second season of Kamini? “We will have to ask Monida (Mahendra Soni, one of the heads of Hoichoi),” Barkha says, with a laugh. “We were in talks about the second season when Covid came,” she adds.  

Barkha’s character in Shrimati is a posh, well-heeled, self-aware woman who focuses on her appearance, especially her well-toned body. She avoids oily food and swears by salad. She lives in her own world and a character like Shrimati, who is absolutely glued to her family, is almost alien to her.