I have liked the craft of Atanu Ghosh right from his
telefilm days for his choice of subjects, his ability to develop the characters
and storytelling. His debut film Angshumaner
Chhobi (where he gave first break to one of my favourite actors Indraneil
Sengupta) was critically acclaimed. I liked most of his second film Takhan Teish. But I loved his last
outing Rupkatha Noy which was
received well by the cinema-loving audience.
As the countdown for his December 5 release Ek Phali Rodh is on, the director makes time for an exclusive
interview to this blog on his new film. It has an impressive lead cast of
Dhritiman Chatterjee, Ritwik Chakraborty, Jisshu Sengupta, Tota Roychoudhury
and Aparajita Ghosh Das.
Kolkata Curry (KC):
Ek Phali Rodh revolves around the bystander effect. The subject sounds
more documentary than a full length feature film. What made you approach and
develop such a subject for the big screen? Weren’t you apprehensive of audience
acceptance?
Atanu Ghosh (A): On the contrary, I feel there is
little you can ‘document’ about Bystander Effect, because it happens in reality
and you do not know when it is going to happen ! So you cannot get prepared to
photograph it unless you have CCTV cameras fitted in every nook and corner of
the city that captures real life. What drew me to the subject was the method
adopted by social scientists to study it, that is, the process of creating
‘mock’ crisis. Fiction films are about ‘mock’ situations and ‘crisis’ is the
most dominating dramatic interest in any fictional film. So I had no
apprehension whatsoever regarding the choice of the subject and I knew for
certain that it has all the ingredients that go into making of an engrossing
fiction film.
KC:
Like your last film Rupkatha Noy, does it also have stories running parellely?
A: No, here a group of people get assembled towards the common
cause of exploring the process of Bystander Effect, that is, the
socio-psychological phenomenon where people do not offer any help to a stranger
in crisis. But, thereafter the film branches out exploring other facets of
life. So the Bystander Effect is actually the springboard from where the film originates
and then undertakes a journey of self-discovery.
KC:
The shooting must have been challenging,
considering you did candid shooting on real locations for some outdoor scenes.
A:
Since the issue is straight out of our
lives and directly related to our own experience, I wanted the film to have the
feel of emerging out of ‘real’ life. I avoided all sorts of made-up or decked
-up situations, which is normally done in case of fictional films. So it is
like ‘photographed reality’. No superficiality. No overplayed emotion. No
pretension. We shot in crowded roads using hidden cameras and even when the
locations were indoor, we chose places like general ward of public hospital
during visiting hours. So, the actors, in a way, mingled with the general crowd
to get as close to reality as possible. Yes, it was very difficult at times,
but very really challenging as well.
KC:
Like
the last one, this also has an ensemble cast. Please share with us how you went
about casting the main characters.
A:
Never before, I had so many of my favourite
actors working together, as in Ek Phaali
Rodh. I craved for those who keep us glued to the screen not only for the
principal cast but also for the notable cameos. So we have Dhritiman, Ritwik,
Jisshu, Tota and Aparajita playing the lead while Rudranil Ghosh, Arunima
Ghosh, Dulal Lahiri, Barun Chanda and Arindam Sil have enriched the film with
their brief but glowing presence. And keep your eyes open for two young
debutants who are bound to steal the show - Mahua Halder and Aritro Dutta.
KC:
Do you think Tota is an underrated and
underutilised actor ?
A:
Undoubtably so. The effort Tota puts into a
role is incomparable. His willingness to push his capacity to its limits has
given us memorable performances in Chokher
Bali and Angshumaner Chhobi and I
really believe he would be a revelation in Ek
Phaali Rodh as well. He has put in an entirely different body language to
bring out the contrasting qualities of strength and vulnerability in the role
of the blind author of love stories.
KC:
Joy Sarkar has scored the music again for
your film. How have you used it in the film ?
A:
I always want music to flow out
effortlessly from a film. I don’t want them to remain separate entities as song
numbers or background pieces. They should integrate into the fabric of the film
and become quite invisible. Joy is remarkably spontaneous. He can effortlessly
blend a song into the fabric of the film. In Ek Phaali Rodh, the songs provide an alternate layer of input –
sometimes they hold a torch to a character’s psyche, sometimes they add a
footnote to the images and sometimes they even suggest an alternate
interpretation of the scenes.
KC:
Finally, which Bengali films have you liked in
2014, and why?
A: In the last few years, I am really
drawn to the wide range of subjects that Bengali films are trying to explore.
It’s really fascinating to come across some specimens of unique concept and
novel treatment. In 2014 too, I liked quite a few films for various reasons,
the last one being Chotushkon for its
distinctly different form of storytelling.
Here’s wishing Ek
Phali Rodh all the very best.