Indians can`t seem to go beyond flesh: Nandana Sen

Nandana Sen has earned herself a title other than the one she was born with. Besides being Amartya Sen’s daughter, she is also the first mainstream Indian actor to pose nude. Who can describe the nuances behind shedding those layers better than Nandana. She talks about the act, and what it takes to get before the camera with nothing to hide one. Ketan Mehta’s ‘Rang Rasiya’ is based on Raja Ravi Varma.

Spicezee Bureau

Mumbai: Nandana Sen has earned herself a title other than the one she was born with. Besides being Amartya Sen’s daughter, she is also the first mainstream Indian actor to pose nude. Who can describe the nuances behind shedding those layers better than Nandana. She talks about the act, and what it takes to get before the camera with nothing to hide one. Ketan Mehta’s controversial venture ‘Rang Rasiya’, which is based on Raja Ravi Varma, has raised many eyebrows because of nudity having been handled quite frankly in it. When asked about this topic that all consider ‘very-interesting’ if not taboo, she said, “It isn`t about sexuality at all. The nudity is central to the plot. And I completely believed in my director Ketan Mehta`s vision. The film is very important at a time when I feel our freedom of expression is being threatened in small or big ways, whether it is with M F Husain Saab`s work or whether it`s the moral police deciding how long our skirts should be in public places.” Talking about nudity in movies and her family, she said, “I had turned down several international including one with Tim Robbins recently, because they had nude scenes to perform. But the nude scene in ‘Rang Rasiya’ is at the core of the film. It was my family who clinched the matter for me. When I told them about the nude scene they supported me completely. Otherwise I was very reluctant to do it. Now I`m proud of the fact that I did it. My character Sugandha was the first pinup girl in India. All the calendar art became available to people because printing came into being at the same time when Sugandha posed for Ravi Varma. People could actually could bring images of goddesses home. At the same time she got ostracized for what she did. She was truly a trendsetter. And playing her I became a trendsetter by doing our first nude scene. When all else makes such a big deal about nudity, Nandana looks at the matter without layers of awe or impressionisms, “All over the world the greatest directors use actors and actresses in the nude in completely non-gratuitous ways. Strangely we Indians can`t seem to go beyond flesh. Ironically Ravi Raja Varma was taken to court for painting a nude. Today 130 years later the same issue seems to have come up. People want to know why the face of a girl who`s seen in the nude should be superimposed on a goddess. So am I and the director Ketan Mehta going to be ostracized in the same way that Ravi Raja Varma and Sugandha were 130 years ago?”