Rituparna disappointed about not making mark in Bollywood

Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta rues she hasn't got enough opportunities in Bollywood to showcase her talent despite being around for four years. But the National Award winner is excited about sharing screen space with none other than Shah Rukh Khan - in an ad film.

"Yes, Bollywood couldn't recognise my talent to the extent expected," Rituparna, who forayed into the Hindi film industry with "Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh" in 2005, told IANS on phone from Kolkata.

She was then seen in box office duds like "Unns - Love...Forever", "Gauri - The Unborn" and "Sirf - Life Looks Greener on the Other Side".

Rituparna believes she could have made a mark in the Hindi film industry if she had had the advantage of Bollywood lineage or contacts.

"It's difficult to make a mark in Bollywood if you do not belong to a film family or have proper contacts. Talent speaks when you get proper opportunity," said Rituparna.

Her consolation is that she got a chance to share screen space with superstar Shah Rukh in an ad film for Sona Chandi Chyawanprash. She plays his wife in it.

"It was an amazing experience to work with Shah Rukh. He is cordial and the kind of person who values time," she said.

Asked if she was nervous about working with the actor, she said: "I was very nervous when I got to know that I would be opposite Shah Rukh. I have a huge fan following, but personally I am a great fan of his."

Rituparna shared her first National Award for Best Actress with Bengali peer Indrani Haldar for her role in Rituparno Ghosh's "Dahan" in 1998 and recently won the same for Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury's Bengali film "Anuranan".

Right now she is looking forward to her forthcoming Hindi movie "Paroksh". It is Anup Das' directorial debut and the filmmaker has woven a captivating story around a surrogate mother.

"It's a very women-oriented film. The story is so contemporary that a woman can easily relate herself with the characters," added Rituparna, who recently did the dialogue promotion for director David Dhawan's "Do Knot Disturb" along with actor Riteish Deshmukh.

"When David Dhawan approached me for it, I happily agreed. Riteish is a nice guy and a fantastic person to work with," she said.

Asked if she had taken Hindi lessons during her initial days in Bollywood, she said: "No, I knew the language and I do my own dubbing."

Rituparna has also proved her talent as a playback singer in a song featured on her in "Anuranan".

"I sung it only to sync sound as my director said he would get it professionally sung later. But he liked it so much that he kept it as it is. Thus I made my debut as a playback singer," said Rituparna.

The actress has finished shooting for two more Hindi films - Ajay Varma's "S.R.K" and Faisal Saif's "Osama". She will also be seen in Priyadarshan's Hindi version of Iranian film "Children of Heaven".

Indo-Asian News Service