Exclusive! “We were fortunate enough to have mentors, who groomed and taught us holding hands,” says Laboni Sarkar

Bengali audience saw her on-screen what termed as ‘character artist’, playing reel mom to heroes who were older than her in real life. But that didn’t stop her from ‘stealing’ scenes based on her realistic performances that fetched her awards including Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards, Kalakar Award, West Bengal Tele Academy Awards to name a few.She stepped into showbiz with a Jochon Dastidar-directed television show and soon bagged Aparna Sen’s Sati. Yes, we are talking about actress Laboni Sarkar. The actress, who is now in her 50s, is mostly termed by her young co-stars as the 'powerhouse of energy' and a senior, whose work speaks for it. In an exclusive conversation with ETimes TV, the actress poured her heart out.
When asked how it feels to have spent more than three decades in Tollywood, Laboni, with a smile on her face, says, “It feels good, when I look back. I got the opportunity to work with some of the most eminent directors and actors. I learned a lot. Fortunately, we had mentors who groomed us, taught us a lot of things holding hands.”
She is one of those artists of Tollywood, who, with her prolific performances ruled the hearts of the audience. With a career spanning more than 35 years, Laboni has worked with many eminent directors of this industry including Aparna Sen, Rituparno Ghosh, Tapan Sinha, Buddhadev Dasgupta as well as Haranath Chakraborty, Swapan Saha. And she never limited herself to a particular genre and went on to work in both art films as well as commercial cinema just like she has never been choosy about the medium. “To be honest, it’s the work I am doing that matters the most and I never thought about which category does it belong to or whether it is television, movie or stage performance. My performance irrespective of the categories and medium remains the same. And I always focused on my work keeping all other things aside,” she says.
She has been striking a fine balance among all her projects and never deprived the television audience. In past few years, Laboni has been a part of meaty projects like ‘Phagun Bou’, ‘Falna’, ‘Uron Tubri’, ‘Ichche Nodee’, ‘Mayur Pankhi’ to name a few. When asked about the changes she noticed in television industry, Laboni says, “There has been a noticeable change in terms of budget, the work format and few other things. It’s very different from the era when I started my career. There was only one channel, competition or pressure for TRP wasn’t there. In those days, we had limited resources, but the quality of work still speaks for itself. Even when gradually one or two private Bengali channels came in, many good TV shows and telefilms were made.” The actress shared how the concept of TV show has changed too. While adaptation of novels, short stories inspired many shows, Bengali viewers had also seen daily soaps which weren’t essentially a saas-bahu drama. “Things have changed, you know. In the past few years, the concept of TV shows has completely changed. The concept of work has also changed. In those days, we didn’t have strong PR machinery. We had mentors, who groomed us, taught us the art of acting. We had Bibhas Chakraborty, Ramaprasad Banik, Rituparno Ghosh and others to groom talents. Unfortunately, it seems grooming isn’t that necessary these days,” she added. Interestingly, the actress herself is immensely popular among her junior co-stars, who can’t stop talking about her and the energy she brings in to the set.
Laboni, has also forayed into the digital platform. She was seen in Raima Sen, Vikram Chatterjee starrer ‘Rokto Korobi’. Speaking about that, she says, “I absolutely loved working in the series. We had a very talented star cast and working with Sahana is always a great experience. When she initially approached me for the character, I was bit surprised. Thakurji’s character didn’t have words. But when she explained me thoroughly the shades the character has, I realised why she wanted me to play the role.”
When asked about whether OTT platforms are going to change the ‘game’ in just like how many people have speculated, she says, “It’s good to see that a variety of subjects are being explored. Not only that, the concept of hero or heroine is also changing. The characters are more realistic, closer to the roots. It’s a refreshing change.”
There is no doubt that it takes more than just a ‘zeal’ to survive in this industry which is known for its ‘ruthless’ side and not-so-healthy competition. More than often, entertainment industry faces the allegation of ‘side lining’ artists, politics and what not! When asked how she ‘survived’ more than three decades, she says with a smile on her face said, “I just worked.”