Ashok Vishwanathan’s next ‘Hemanter Aparanha’ sees a unique blend of film and theatre

Ashok Vishwanathan has returned to film direction after a long time. His next, titled ‘Hemanter Aparanha’, is a unique blend of theatre and film featuring Ashok’s daughter Anusha Viswanathan, Shyamal Bhattacharya, Rwitobroto Mukherjee, Bidipta Chakrabarty, Meghla Dasgupta, Rupsha Guha, Subrata Dutta, Moubani Sarkar, Satyapriya Mukherjee, Sudip Mukherjee, Payel Mukherjee and the director himself in key roles. The film, being shot in and around Kolkata, is set in the current COVID times and explores the behind-the-scenes of theatre world and the struggles of artists. The plot tries to explore how people see their relationships while the happenings of behind-the-scenes in films and theatres play a crucial part in the narrative. Anxiety and depression leading to suicides in recent times is also a major theme of this film. The story revolves around an elderly retired person who lives alone after the demise of his wife. His son lives abroad in Ukraine and they have lost contact. However, one fine morning he enters the theatre world and it changes everything in his life. Uncertainty, nervousness, and agitation all seem to start consuming him. All of these are enough to arouse curiosity in him. What happens next forms the crux of this film. While the direction and story are by Ashok Vishwanathan himself the music has been composed by Gabu.