'Isn't verbal commitment of any consequence?'

Very few know Nandita Das was the original choice for the coveted role in Rituparno Ghosh's Choker Bali.

The much-awaited film is based on a famous Rabindranath Tagore story. But Ghosh sidestepped Das and roped in Aishwarya Rai for Choker Bali. Why, asks the actress, in an interview with Dinesh Raheja:

Why did Rituparno Ghosh replace you with Aishwarya Rai in Choker Bali?

Rituparno Ghosh offered me Choker Bali around three years ago. But each time the film was scheduled to go on the sets, something or the other would delay it. I did [Deepa Mehta's] Water, for which I had to cut my hair, so we tried out different wigs for Choker Bali.

Around this time, I was offered a Dreamworks film, Time Machine. It was a futuristic film to be produced by Steven Spielberg's company in Los Angeles. But Rituparno said he was going ahead with his film. The shooting was postponed again and I missed out on a good opportunity.

Then, Rituparno offered me the sutradhar's role in Shubho Mahurat. I hesitated, but he reasoned, "Look, we are going to work together in Choker Bali so it would be nice to know each other as actress and director."

So Choker Bali was temporarily filed away to the memory bin.

No. We kept talking about costumes, my hair. He even asked me how I looked without kajal. Then I heard he had started talking to Aishwarya Rai.

How did you react?

I told myself till he doesn't tell me himself [that he had started talking to Rai], I am not going to get into all this or believe it. Eventually, he did tell me about it. I have to admit I did feel letdown. I felt bad.

I thought to myself, 'Isn't verbal commitment of any consequence?'

He sounded absolutely convinced when he told me I was the perfect choice for the story, which is set in 1920. He even made me do a script reading with Sharmila Tagore once.

Also, the combination of a good script, an author-backed role and a good director is so rare. Rituparno is a wonderful director. He may not explore cinema as a form a great deal but he is a wonderful storyteller with an eye for detail, art direction and subtle nuances in a performance.

Have you spoken to Rituparno recently?

I haven't spoken to him after the incident. But there are no grudges. Jo hota hain achche ke liye hota hain [Whatever happens, happens for the best].

During the time he was shooting for the film, I worked on a play with Shabana Azmi, Zohra Sehgal and other actresses. We performed in Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Ahmedabad and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

If Ghosh were to offer you a film today, would you agree to work with him?

I would because I don't hold grudges. But, this time, I would insist on a written contract.