By:
Subhash
K.
Jha,
IndiaFM
Tuesday,
August
21,
2007
"Imagine,
a
Reddy
is
a
star
in
Ghosh-land.
It
was
a
challenge
and
I'm
glad
I
proved
equal
to
it" chuckles
Sameera.
Sameera
may
be
a
Reddy,
but
she
seems
to
have
found
unexpected
fame
in
Bengal,
what
with
one
of
the
region's
most
prominent
directors
Buddhadeb
Dasgupta
having
taken
a
fancy
to
her.
Sameera
starred
in
Dasgupta's
Kaal
Pursh
and
now
in
Me
Yasim
and
Madubala
which
tackles
the
prickly
subject
of
voyeurism
and
the
invasion
of
private
feminine
space
through
the
intrusive
male
gaze.
The
quasi-satire
now
heads
for
Toronto
for
the
Festival
in
September.
The
actress
who
has
lately
assumed
the
mantle
of
a
social
activist
is
much
gratified.
"I'm
going
to
Toronto
on
8th
September.
I
guess
this
is
a
time
of
remarkable
reckoning
in
my
career.
While
Kaal
Purush
has
just
won
the
National
award
for
Best
Film,
Me
Yasim&Madhubala
where
I
play
Madhubala,
is
going
to
the
Toronto
Film
Festival.
Dada
(Dasgupta)
is
a
master
moviemaker.
Me
Yasim...
is
rightly
in
the
very
prestigious
'Masters'
section
in
Toronto.
Buddhadeb
Dasgupta's
confidence
in
me
has
given
me
great
confidence
as
an
actress.
You
know
we
were
having
a
press
conference
for
Kaal
Purush
when
he
announced,
'Sameera
is
doing
my
next
film'.
That's
how
I
got
to
know
I
was
doing
a
second
film
with
Dada.
Everyone
discouraged
him
from
signing
a
glamorous
Mumbai
actress
in
a
deglamorized
role.
Today
I'm
seen
as
more
Bengali
than
the
Bengali
actresses
in
Kolkata.
After
doing
two
films
with
me
in
Bengali
he's
now
planning
a
third
Bengali
film
with
me."
Kolkata
is
abuzz
with
stories
of
how
Sameera
has
become
the
new
Smita
Patil.
"If
I
am
Dada's
muse
I'm
too
flattered
to
be
embarrassed,"
she
laughs
in
pleasure.
"I
can
never
say
no
to
Dada.
I'm
doing
his
second
film
and
will
do
a
third
and
as
many
as
he
wants
me
to.
I'm
putty
in
his
hands."
Sameera
will
be
at
the
Toronto
Film
Festival
with
not
just
Dasgupta's
quirky
film
but
also
Mira
Nair's
short-film
on
Aids
Migration.
"Two
films
at
the
same
festival...I
couldn't
ask
for
more."
As
for
being
feted
as
a
Bengali
actress
Sameera
shrugs,
"Have
you
seen
Chak
De
India?
Can
we
stop
being
praant
(state)-fixated?
Indian
cinema
is
no
longer
about
just
Bollywood.
I'm
proud
to
be
doing
films
in
Hindi,
Bengali
Telugu
and
Tamil.
And
please
bring
on
more
languages.
Recently,
I
shot
in
Pondicherry
people
reached
out
to
me
about
my
South
film."