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'I'll give Konkona an A+ as an actress'

"Chigusa doesn't understand English, so we had to take the help of an interpreter. But she's very bright and has great body language. This isn't a woman-centric film —the sort I'm usually associated with. If anything, it's mancentric. It's entirely Rahul's story," she says.

Sen is all praise for the lead pair. "Rahul's a very hardworking young man and Raima fits the role perfectly. I share a great rapport with Rahul and he gives a 200 per cent to all his films. As for Raima, she's wonderful in the film and surrenders completely to the director," she gushes.

As for her own acting talents, Aparna doesn't rate them very high. "I've always considered myself a mediocre actress. I'm a better director than an actress. My acting skills have improved since I started directing," she says.

She's self-effacing in other ways, too. Aparna effortlessly finds a place among the hundred best-looking Indian women of the century, but doesn't let it become the basis of her existence. "You want to keep looking nice, but you become a very uninteresting person if you're obsessed with yourself.

There have been times while shooting a film when I've looked terrible, and that's fine. Just as I don't want to live in an ugly house, I don't want to look ugly, and for me the matter ends there. There's no time to be obsessed about my looks," she explains.

It's films that occupy almost all her hours. Her movies have often been described as lonely and painful, but loneliness of individuals is something that interests her.

"I can't make one of those feelgood, laugh-a-line films that are being made these days. But my films aren't only about pain. It's not just heavyhanded seriousness. My movies are like life — it's fun at times, and yet painful," she says.

In real life she's director, actress, mother, wife — juggling all these roles with equal ease. She attributes it to her supportive family. "I'm in a long-distance marriage, but my husband, Kalyan Choudhury, is very supportive. When we decided to get married, I told him that I wouldn't be able to live in America since Konkona was just 13 then. Both of us were divorcees and that helped us understand each other better. In fact, one of the reasons he was attracted to me was my work. I too love his writing. We're very supportive of each other and it's like a meeting of minds."

While her daughter Konkona calls her a tough taskmaster, Aparna is happy with the way Konkona's career is going. "She's a natural and gets the character from within. I'm very happy with the way her career is shaping up in Bollywood.

She's very level-headed and doesn't have any starry airs since I've instilled that in her. I'll give her an A+ as an actress, and I'm not saying this as a mother," she comments.