Srabanti hits back at trolls: ‘Why should I quit social media?’

Next year, Srabanti Chatterjee will complete 30 years in the Bengali film industry. Having started as a child actor in 1997 with ‘Mayar Badhon’ directed by Swapan Saha, Srabanti rose to fame with her leading roles in several Bengali commercial hits such as ‘Dujone’, ‘Wanted’, ‘Josh’ and ‘Amanush’ to name a few. The songs from these films continue to rule the charts and Srabanti often longs to return to that era. “It was indeed a golden time. We had so much fun shooting those films and the songs were massive hits,” she said with a smile.

Today, Srabanti has matured, both personally and professionally. Her new OTT release ‘Thakurmar Jhuli’, directed by Ayan Chakraborti, features her in a unique role, playing both a grandmother and a detective.

For the role, the actress had to gain a few extra kilos, which unfortunately led to online trolling. In fact, Srabanti is one of the Bengali actresses who has faced relentless trolling. Recently, the ‘Goynar Baksho’ actress filed a complaint with the cybercrime division of Kolkata Police against body-shaming. While she usually chooses to ignore online trolls, this time she felt it went too far.

“My parents are also on social media. I’ve been trolled multiple times and it’s best to ignore it. But this time, morphed and AI-generated videos were being circulated. My parents urged me to take action,” said the ‘Kanamachi’ actress. Even the director and TMC leader Raj Chakraborty had previously filed a complaint against trolls when his wife, actress Subhashree Ganguly, was targeted online.

However, Srabanti doesn’t believe in stepping away from social media to ‘make space for positive energy’. “Why should I quit social media because of people who hold no value in my life? My genuine fans are interested in knowing about my life. I also use it to promote my work and for brand collaborations. I fail to understand how the minds of trolls operate. Do they ever reflect on themselves before trolling? Are they perfect?” she said.

In ‘Thakurmar Jhuli’, Srabanti had to appear aged, but she chose not to rely on prosthetics. “I worked on my look and that’s why I decided to gain weight,” she added. In any Bengali household, ‘Thakurmar Jhuli’ by Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumder is a must-have and generations of children have grown up reading these timeless fairy tales. Srabanti, however, preferred watching the stories rather than reading them, often with her son.

When asked about returning to commercial potboilers, the ‘Shudhu Tomari Jonyo’ actress revealed that she even had a word with Dev. “I think it’s very important for hardcore masala films to succeed in the Bengali film industry for its overall well-being,” she said.