Konkona: A life, career shaped by unconventional upbringing

Mainstream has never been the mainstay in her filmography. Not even with her directorial debut, the 1979-set drama thriller A Death in the Gunj. The critically-acclaimed Konkona Sensharma says her choices are a result of her unconventional upbringing — sans TV shows like The Bold and the Beautiful or even Mahabharata and Ramayan.

Konkona is the daughter of celebrated Bengali actor-writer-director Aparna Sen, whose much-appreciated works as a director include 36 Chowringhee Lane, Sati, Mr and Mrs Iyer, 15 Park Avenue and Iti Mrinalini, and writer Mukul Sharma.

Talking about her mother's influence in her life, Konkona said: "My mother has lived life on her own terms, did what she believed in, all her values and liberalism... All of that have had a strong impact on my life. She paved the way and was one of the pioneers (among women) to make a film in the early 1980s. She has always been ahead of the times."

Having a mother with a broad world view, understanding of global cinema, showbiz and literature, meant a more controlled environment for entertainment at home.

"She was particular about what I watched and what I read. I was a voracious reader, and you know when you're young, you'd be reading a lot of Enid Blyton, and she would say, 'You can't be reading only this'. And I listened to her, I trusted her.

"She was not one of those parents who had a lot of rules for everything. She let me be my own person, but she had some opinions... She didn't let me watch The Bold and the Beautiful or Mahabharat and Ramayan. She said she didn't want my first impressions of these epics to be through television. It was quite tacky back in the day... Of course, it may have had an emotional appeal. But she didn't want me to watch it at that point," Konkona recounted.

She didn't grow up watching a lot of Hindi films either — but Mr India and Masoom are some titles she remembers watching during her growing-up days. Other than that, she was exposed to world cinema as she travelled extensively with her mother to film festivals in Egypt and Moscow.

"I guess it was an unconventional upbringing," she said, adding how The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, films of Ingmar Bergman and Satyajit Ray were among those that left an indelible impact on her as she grew up to become a formidable name herself in the Indian film industry.

Mr and Mrs Iyer, 15 Park Avenue, Page 3, The Namesake, Wake Up Sid and Goynar Baksho are among some of her noted works.