My heart does not understand what it means to turn 80: Aparna Sen

Dressed in a black sari with her hair elegantly styled, veteran filmmaker and actor Aparna Sen stepped into her 80s on Saturday, surrounded by family and close friends from the film fraternity.

When CT spoke to her the day after the celebration, the Padma Shri recipient said, “Everyone has been asking me, ‘You’re turning 80, how does it feel?’ Well, exactly how I felt at 79.

I can’t tell the difference!” From her husband Kalyan Ray, daughter Konkona Sensharma and grandson Haroon, to confidante Shabana Azmi and numerous collaborators, everyone gathered to raise a toast to yet another milestone in her life.

‘Nothing has changed’As a kid, Aparna thought people actually grow up when they turn five. She says, “On the morning of my fifth birthday, I ran to the mirror thinking I would see a grown-up person staring back.

But I saw the same little girl standing there. It feels a lot like that. What I saw in the mirror at 79 is what I see now at 80, nothing has changed.”

I wonder if I’ll get to make another film. I know if I start it, I’ll immerse myself in it. But, maybe it’s time to write my memoir – Aparna Sen

Aparna@80: Friends, loved ones make it a grand affair

‘Age is truly just a number’Aparna believes in and redefines the phrase ‘Age is just a number’. She says, “The body sometimes has aches and pains, but I don’t feel that I am at an age where my body is giving up.” She credits it all to years of daily yoga practice – “If you work your muscles every day, your joints and muscles stay active. That’s about it.” She continues, “I feel fine at 80, I felt fine at 75, great at 70, wonderful at 65... that is how the milestones have come and gone in my life, quietly, steadily, each year passing with its own rhythm, and yet inside I feel the same.

”