Maybe I made a hasty decision to get married: Madhumita Sarcar

The live wire that she is, for her keeping calm even for a minute is no mean task. Throughout the makeup and shoot done especially for CT, she kept herself engaged in something or the other. As we caught up with Madhumita Sarcar for a chat, she expressed her wish to be in a long-term relationship. From link-up rumours to her take on love child and single parenting – the actress tells us all in this freewheeling interview. Excerpts:It’s been a while since we last caught up. How has life been?Life is perfect. By the grace of God, the audience has been appreciating my work, and it feels damn good. Do you agree that lately you have been in the news for your link-ups more than your work? Since I am single, people keep linking me up with anybody and everybody. This is the reason why I am not finding the right man for myself, who will be loyal. I am seriously looking for a special person to spend my life with, but definitely not from the industry. Recently, it was reported that Saurav Das and I are having an affair. Following that, all media houses started writing about it. I feel that piece of news got undue attention. People tend to forget that I am part of the industry and I need to work with these people.Did you speak to Saurav after the news came out? No. Why should I give importance to something which is not true?Do such reports affect you or do you simply ignore them?It used to bother me before, but now I just laugh it off. If people keen on my love life followed me everywhere, they would get to know about my really sad story (laughs). Did anyone hear anything about me when I was with Sourav Chakraborty? No. I am a one-man woman contrary to what people like to believe. I feel so lonely staying here all alone that I moved to Champahati to be with my family. Whenever I have work in Kolkata, I travel all the way from there. Even then the gossip-mongers don’t seem to stop.There’s a strong buzz about your growing closeness to a producer in Kolkata.If that’s true, I should be part of all their projects – isn’t it? It is not true. On the contrary, the person you’ are talking about will be happy if I find the right person for myself.We heard that your divorce proceedings with Sourav Chakraborty are underway. Are you both keeping in touch?The divorce got delayed because of the pandemic, but the final formalities will be over soon. We haven’t been in touch since we got separated two years back.Do you regret getting married so early in life?I do. Maybe I made a hasty decision then. Had I not decided to get married so early, I would have been able to concentrate on my career so much more. Having said that, I don’t regret being with Sourav as we have managed to create some good memories together.What went wrong?Maybe our preferences were way different... I can’t tell. Being a romantic person, I gave it my best shot till I was pushed over the edge. Now I think I should have walked out of the marriage much earlier.In Bollywood, we have seen ex-couples working together even after parting ways. Will you work with Sourav if an assignment comes your way?I have no problem working with a talented actor like Sourav because it’s been a while since my personal feelings for him took a back seat. So I’m not carrying that baggage anymore. As a professional actress, I am willing to work with any good actor.Coming back to your work, did you feel bad that Tangra Blues didn’t do that well?The film was not meant for the general audience, it was mostly for music lovers. The hit or flop tag is secondary to me. What matters is whether the audience liked my performance and the feedback to the film. Besides, this film got released in the middle of the pandemic, so we were not expecting it to do great. But I am sure once the situation improves and theatres open, people will go back to the big screen for good content.Is it true that you have enrolled yourself on some course?Yes. I am doing an online course on filmmaking from a film academy in New York. I plan to go there for another course after the pandemic situation improves.Nusrat Jahan has been making headlines for her pregnancy. What do you have to say about her decision?Nusrat is a brave girl and she has taken a bold decision. I must say the pregnancy glow is making herlook even more beautiful. Other than the baby bump, she hasn’t put on weight elsewhere (smiles). I heard that her energy on sets is unaffected by the pregnancy. Hats off to her! I will never be able to take such a bold step because of the social stigma attached to such issues in our country.What’s your take on love child and single parenting?There is no official statement from Nusrat on whether hers is a love child or her desire to become a single mother. So my answer has nothing to do with her – it is her life and I am no one to judge. Talking about my personal take on this, I don’t believe in the concept of love child as I feel India, especially Kolkata, is still not liberal enough to welcome this concept gracefully. If I am pregnant, I would love to flaunt the father’s name as we both are responsible for it. I don’t want the child to suffer later because of my bold decision. Not just the mother, the father should be equally responsible for a love child. As for single parenting, I think it is a big decision and a greater responsibility. Rather than being a single mom, I would love to embrace parenthood when my child gets love from both parents. No matter what, I would have never walked out of my marriage if I was a mother.At a time when everyone is so image-conscious and a woman goes ahead and embraces this life, what message does it send out to the sisterhood?Is this country so liberal yet? I really don’t think so. I feel Kolkata will take another 20 years to digest something like this. But ultimately, it is a personal choice. One has to face the consequences of their decision – good or bad.Nusrat and you share a common link – Yash...(Laughs) The only difference is real and reel life... let the readers figure out which of us gets to have him where.Yash will be seen on television soon. The audience wants the hit on-screen jodi of Yash-Madhumita back on screen. Do you have any such plans?I don’t think I will be back on television in the next 10 years at least. But if something interesting comes up, I will consider it. As they say, cross the bridge when you come to it.You and Yash were supposed to play the lead pair in Soumik Halder’s debut film.Yes. At that point in time, a lot was happening in my personal life and I was too stressed. Also, I was not in the right shape to share the screen with Yash as a heroine. So, it got deferred.Pic: Samik Sen