#BigInterview Aparna Sen: I make films true to my artistic vision

“I don’t make experimental cinema or so-called formula films. Instead, I make films which are true to my artistic vision,” that’s how Aparna Sen describes her directorial works.
Women in Aparna Sen directed films have never been confined in an ideological realm of modernity or progressiveness; instead, they travel their way into breaking all the boundaries of regressive society.Along with all her charm and integrity, there was always that intelligence in actor Aparna Sen in her early days which reflected in later years when she started her directorial works.
During an exclusive interview with ETimes, we asked the actor-director how things have changed since she made ‘Paroma’, especially the portrayal of strong women characters.

“Earlier, whenever women made films about women, it was always about women who are morally correct and flawless. Now, a woman can make a film on women who are flawed, and not run the risk of being labeled as anti-feminist,” explained the seasoned director.
We also can’t deny that very few films are made in Tollywood with women in the lead. To this Aparna Sen says: “Yes, I remember the film, ‘Natoker Mato’, with Paoli Dam in the lead, and it was a very nicely made film, but I don’t know why so few films are made with women as the absolute protagonist.”
Aparna Sen whose last directorial ‘Ghawre Bairey Aaj’ received critical acclaims received accolades for the mother-in-law’s role she played in ‘Bohomaan’, her last Bengali film as an actor.

She also believes in most of the films these days, there are characters from elite upper-caste backgrounds. “Filmmakers tend to forget that there are people of so many diverse racial and economic backgrounds residing together in our country. Sometimes, characters from these backgrounds are kept in the films as tokens," she regrets.
As the conversation went on, the actor-director pointed out an interesting fact. “I believe I have evolved as an actress after I started directing,” said Aparna adding that she thinks films with certain fixed formulas were in vogue when she was mainly an actress. “Then I preferred to perform in comic roles only. Somehow, I was a bit tired of dancing around trees and acting coy for no valid reason. I still remember I had told my mother once if I have to utter the typical lines 'I cannot get married to this man', I will commit suicide,” she joked.

“Right now filmmakers are trying their hands on different kinds of films and I am also not completely dependent on my acting career, so I can choose my scripts,” signed off Aparna Sen who will soon start working on her first Hindi directorial.