Nandana Sen denied an international project as it required her to go topless

By Subhash K. Jha -

April 14, 2009 - 12:00 AM IST

After the controversial nude scenes in Ketan Mehta's Rang Rasiya, Nandana Sen got another highly-prestigious offer that required her to go topless. Italian filmmaker Italo Spinelli offered Nandana the lead of a tribal woman who's surreptitiously shot nude by a photographer. The film is based on Bengali litterateur Mahashweta Devi's provocative and controversial story Choli Ke Peeche. The role offered to Nandana was pivotal tempting and challenging .Nandana was sorely tempted. But doing a full-on topless sequence which is a crucial part of the narrative, so soon after Rang Rasiya, was just not on Nandana's agenda. She has reluctantly and after much deliberation said No, throwing the whole project to be started later this year, into back gear. Nandana explains, "It's a good project directed by Italo Spinelli, produced by RAI, shot by Blasco Giurardo, the cinematographer of Cinema Paradiso. It's a powerful story and although I support it fully, I feel the subject matter is such that the tribal girl's nudity cannot avoid becoming unintentionally voyeuristic and eroticised even though that is definitely not the objective. If you remember, previously too I passed on various other international projects because of a similar concern." Nandana made an exception with Ketan Mehta's film. "Rang Rasiya focuses on the increasing critical topic of censorship of art. Remember what happened in Jehangir art gallery last month? Ketan's film deals entirely with the freedom to paint the human figure in its natural beauty. The emotional drama as well as the political message of the film revolve around one critical and excessively talked- about scene of Sugandha, the muse, having the courage to break the rules of the time to pose for Ravi Varma (Randeep Hooda) and create a masterpiece of art together." But having said this, Nandana says no to nudity, no matter how aesthetic. Could the fact that she intends to tie the knot with steady boyfriend Madhu Mantena have something to do with her decision to forego such a plum assignment?