- Sauraseni Maitra began her career at age nine and gained fame in Bengali cinema
- She debuted in the 2012 Hindi-English film Chittagong and acted in diverse genres
- In Nibba Nibbi, she plays Paro, a pregnant, gun-toting woman in a dark comedy
Not many actors transcend their early work to achieve the kind of widespread popularity that Sauraseni Maitra has. Starting at the tender age of nine with modelling and quickly becoming a bankable star in Bengali cinema, she has certainly come a long way.
A glance at her filmography reveals a vast range to applaud.
She debuted in the Hindi-English action-drama Chittagong in 2012. Since then, from family dramas such as Generation Aami (2018) and Ekannoborti (2021) to fast-paced thrillers such as Meghnadbodh Rohoshyo (2017), she has featured in big-budget historical productions like Mehrunissa in Taj: Reign of Revenge on ZEE5, and even Manish Malhotra's backed murder mystery Saali Mohabbat (2024), helmed by Tisca Chopra.
The diversity has been notable. But what makes Tathagata Mukherjee's adrenaline-pumping road film Nibba Nibbi intriguing, judging by its trailer, is something we may not have seen Sauraseni Maitra dig her nails into before.
In an exclusive conversation with NDTV, that's exactly where we begin-how Sauraseni Maitra, as Paro, is completely unhinged in this upcoming dark comedy.
Sauraseni Maitra - The Action Heroine
Nibba Nibbi is an action road movie in which Sauraseni Maitra plays Paro-a heavily pregnant, gun-toting woman who goes on a wild ride with her reckless partner-in-crime, Deba (Rishav Basu). The trailer lays the groundwork for how this young, highly volatile couple is on the run after stealing a hard drive containing sensitive secrets, unleashing a chaotic chase across the landscape of Bengal.
From a blood-soaked avatar of Paro in the trailer to glimpses of their toxic love story simmering beneath the dark plot, this is no Devdas as we know it. This is an entirely different story.
On stepping out of her comfort zone for the film, Sauraseni Maitra tells NDTV, "This is my first time working with Tathagata Mukherjee. When this script came to me, I had fun. It was a roller-coaster ride. Paro's character helped me get out of my comfort zone and be someone I would, in some ways, like to be. She's so unapologetically herself."
What makes this ride even more exciting is how effortless Sauraseni Maitra looks while landing those high-octane action sequences in the trailer. We can only anticipate what the film will deliver. Paro is fearless as she fires away, drenched in blood; a pregnant woman performing all these stunts adds a raw appeal to the on-screen action.
Sauraseni Maitra decodes her prep to play a pregnant woman, "Mostly in films, pregnant women are depicted in a very vulnerable, delicate manner. Of course, there are exceptions. Playing a pregnant woman, I think, was far easier than what a pregnant woman actually goes through when she is that heavily pregnant."
She continues, "Paro loves action. Pregnancy is probably part of her identity, but it doesn't define her true nature, her philosophy of life, or her individuality. It doesn't change it. It doesn't constrain it in any way. I wore the prosthetic to rehearsals. I wore it at home, so that when I wore it on camera, it wouldn't look like I was acting."
"Because with acting, the great part is making it seamless-making it look like you're not acting. The more your body gets accustomed to wearing that additional 2.5 or 3 kg of prosthetics, the easier it becomes. For practice, I added a separate prosthetic, and then the other one I actually wore for the shoot was a little different because it was bigger. But we are so excited," adds Sauraseni Maitra.
Is Sauraseni Maitra A Red Flag When In Love?
The whole Devdas-coded romance in Nibba Nibbi between Sauraseni Maitra's Paro and Rishav Basu's Deba is imbued with passion-and extra shots of toxicity.
Gen-Z calls it a red flag now. But the aspect that mirrors well is how common it is in real life too. We are all toxic in our own ways-emotionally or otherwise.
Sauraseni Maitra concurs and adds, "But in our own heads, we think, 'Yeah, Delulu is the only Solulu,' and I would think I'm lovely. But of course, I have my own toxicity."
She continues, "I've done this way too many times, and even my friends have now given up on me. 'Sauraseni, we are past this cool phase, and you cannot just block a person like that and then unlock them within the next 10 minutes.' So that's what I do. If somebody calls me and I don't pick up, I'm busy. But when I call a person and they don't pick up or text, I automatically assume they're mad at me. He or she has probably blocked me and they're never going to talk to me again. So yeah, these are the things."
A conversation on love cannot be served without a side of Shah Rukh Khan, as it goes in the language of cinema. Sauraseni Maitra instantly lights up as she says, "I am not a Shah Rukh Khan fan. I am a Shah Rukh Khan fangirl. He has ruined it for me. That man has single-handedly ruined women's expectations. It's just Shah Rukh Khan for me. Shah Rukh Khan and Yash Raj-I would love to be in that Veer-Zaara zone."
Nibba Nibbi From The Male Gaze
The trailer of Nibba Nibbi begins by shedding light on changing perspectives. Sauraseni Maitra explains how the film addresses the male gaze with a twist-a strong, unapologetic female character written and envisioned by a male director.
How is that different from a female lens?
The actress says, "Nibba Nibbi is a script that, even though it's written from a male perspective, features Paro as the one doing more action, being more reckless, more unapologetic. Normally in films, it's the guy protecting the girl, right? Here, this girl doesn't need to be protected. The love is there, but she doesn't need protection. And this guy accepts her just the way she is. Don't we all want the same?"
"Nibba Nibbi is a film that actually questions that and breaks every kind of social taboo. If you see it that way, it's a film for women," she concludes.
And with that, she keeps the spirits high: if you think Nibba Nibbi is wild, it's just going to get wilder. You'll judge that for yourself as the film streams on Zee5 Bangla from August 14, 2026.
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