I was Treated Worse than a Guinea Pig: Sreelekha

RBN Web Desk: Popular actress Sreelekha Mitra, who earned accolades for her role in director Soukarya Ghosal’s food fantasy film Rainbow Jelly, has alleged that she was treated worse than a guinea pig by the makers of the Dupur Thakurpo web-series. Sreelekha was supposed to play the title character in the series after Swastika Mukherjee walked out over reported differences with the production house.

Speaking to the media recently, Sreelekha said, she appeared before the camera but had no idea that a ‘look test’ was being conducted. She has been working in the industry for nearly two decades now and the production team seemed to be unaware what dress fits her best. It seemed the makers of the web-series was more interested on whether she looked ‘appealing’, rather than her capabilities as an actress, Sreelekha added.

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The actress said that none bothered to officially inform her that she has been rejected for the role. She came to know of it just before the project went to the floors. Sreelekha claimed to have been ‘taken for granted’, and was treated worse than a guinea pig, adding that she had already started preparing for the role and was waiting to hear the final script. It’s good that she didn’t take up the project, since more respect was due to her being a senior in the industry, Sreelekha said.

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According to Sreelekha, she was told by the production house to announce to the media, about her casting as the lead character in the web-series. Later, when she was dropped, the onus of explaining everything was left to her. Sreelekha said, she doesn’t have the financial strength to fight over the issue, but the experience was hugely humiliating for her.

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It may be recalled that Swastika, on her part, had alleged that the Dupur Thakurpo producers failed to come up with a proper script and a director even after four months of negotiations. In a vitriolic social media post, Swastika said, arrogance and false pride has killed (sic) several people in the industry.

The title character in the second season of the popular web-series, which is broadcast on a popular on-demand Bengali digital entertainment platform, has since been rechristened as Jhuma Boudi after Swastika decided against reprising her role.

Bhojpuri actress Antara Biswas is now playing the title character in the second season.