Actor Kaushik Sen is a familiar name for Bangla cinema and theatre buffs, but he also proudly identifies as father of Riddhi Sen. Riddhi, best known to Bollywood watchers as the actor who played Kajols son in "Helicopter Eela", is actually a National Award winner at a young age, having won the honour when he was barely 21.

"I think my son is a much better actor than I am," declared Kaushik, while speaking with IANS, adding: "I am fortunate to work with iconic film directors like Tapan Sinha, Mrinal Sen, Aparna Sen, Srijit (Mukherji), Kaushik Ganguly, and Anjan Dutta among others, and some great co-actors. I am a good theatre director and I love directing actors. I take the joy of watching an actor grow as a performer before my eyes. Riddhi, on the other hand, has the skill of a great performer. He is competent and I know that he will make all of us very proud."

Riddhi won the National Award as Best Actor for the Bangla film "Nagarkirtan" in 2017. So, what is the expectation of the father from his son, the budding star?

"Riddhi has just started his career. As a father, I feel proud that he is getting appreciation from the start. More than the number of films he does, I want him to stay humble and grounded. Also, he shares a very special bond with Rashmi, his mother, and I want that to remain the same no matter how big he becomes. His mother has a huge contribution to what he has become as an actor and also as a human being," smiled Kaushik.

(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in)