Entrepreneur and Bengali actress Arpita Chatterjee says she helped her husband, veteran actor Prosenjit, to rebuild his mental stability after leaving his career in films after marriage.
She was speaking during a session at the India Today Conclave East 2022 at Grand Oberoi in Kolkata on July 5. The session, titled Being the Better Half: Finding an Identity Beyond the Shadow of a Super Spouse, was attended by other speakers, including: Dr. Rita Choudhary, Dr. Mehtab Chandy and Amy Barua.
Here are excerpts from his session:
Asked if she enjoys some benefits of being the wife of Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, Dr Mehtab Chandy said, “I don’t practice anymore. I don’t do justice to my education. Taking care of the family is my conscious decision.” I was asked by Conrad to take over the company after my father passed away. I said let me try and I am happy now.”
Arpita Chatterjee, who married Prosenjit in 2003, told how she has always supported her husband. Describing the three phases of her life, Arpita said, “I have divided my life into three phases. I named my first phase as a rising star. I started my career with modeling. I got into films, Then I became a serious movie star. I also endorsed national brands. My popularity was increasing every day. At that time my identity was Arpita Paul.
The second step is sharing my own identity. That’s because I wasn’t very ambitious then. Then, social programming happened.
I got married in 2003. Became a mother in 2005. Then, I gave up my acting. Then, I wanted to support my husband so that he could revive his mental stability. Contrary to popular belief, when everyone thought that I would use this marriage as a stepping stone in my career, what happened, age is the most important element for any actress. The moment I got married, I became Arpita Chatterjee and I grew 20 years old. After leaving my acting career, I took up entrepreneurship, ran my own production house, partnered with my husband, but again as the second fiddle.
The third phase that is going on at Jagran, I realized that, somehow, perhaps, I am compromising on my self-esteem and potential. My creativity is being wasted. It’s just one life. I gathered myself, resumed acting, started my start-up. I raised funds, ran the company and then sold it.
Again, I set up a company’s production house in Delhi. In this era, my identity has become woman Arpita. I play many roles of mother, daughter and wife, but mainly as Arpita. I live my life on my own terms and am making big professional dreams come true.
I helped Prosenjit rebuild his mental stability and this is one of my biggest contributions to him in my life. If a person does not have mental stability, he cannot do well. Prosenjit was already a big brand when I married him.
Actress and film producer Amy Barua, wife of politician Piyush Hazarika, said, “I am also a farmer. I got land from my earnings and formed a society for the villagers. We grow arecanut and we also have a dairy farm and fisheries. I feel proud to be a farmer.”
I became an actress at the very young age of 14. I have been a part of 29 feature films and last year I also started directing films.
Amy said that she met her husband at the age of 18. “He was 25 then and a student politician. He was a big fan of mine and still is. We have grown up together and we are more like friends than a couple. We never interfered in each other’s territory. We have always trusted and respected each other and have always believed in each other. He is still the same person I met 17 years ago.