I am yet to feel the warmth and love of this industry: Pratim D Gupta

When he made Paanch Aadhyay six years back — his first film — not too many people were ready to take this critic-turned-filmmaker too seriously. Very few from Tollywood watched the film and far fewer turned up for the premiere. Even now, in a room full of filmmakers, he may well be the last person to be invited to speak, says Pratim D Gupta. Unfazed about the lack of warmth, the director would rather concentrate on the work at hand. Ahead of the release of

Ahare Mon

— Pratim’s take on love, loneliness and companionship — the director speaks about friendship, rivalry and all things in between. Excerpts from a chat on a rainy morning:

What’s the status of your ‘mon’ leading up to the release?

I feel relaxed. That’s the best part about making a small film — there’s no pressure. If it runs, good; if not, nothing can be done. There’s no guarantee that a Bengali film will run after its release. It’s difficult for me to gauge if the audience that liked Maacher Jhol, will come back to watch Ahare Mon. I have seen directors making back-to-back bad films, but the audience comes back to see those. Your previous work doesn’t always have a huge bearing. At the same time, directors like Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee have found an audience. Every year, they get a good opening regardless of what they make; the subjects keep changing. Then, there are those who, despite not making great films, get an audience — this phenomenon baffles me. So I am not sure if the audience that watched Maacher Jhol will feel, ‘Dekhi ei chheletar porer chhobi ta ki’.

Do you mean to say the audience in Bengal is unpredictable or that certain directors have a pull at the box office?

There are no two ways about the fact that actors don’t have a pull in Bengal. On the contrary, directors do, but whether I am one of them or not is not clear to me yet. Maacher Jhol didn’t open well after the good run of Saheb Bibi Golaam. It picked up after good wordof-mouth publicity. I am very confident about my film. I am sure if people watch it, they’ll like it. But I don’t know if they’ll come in the first weekend.

Paanch Adhyay, your debut directorial, too was a love story.But Ahare Mon looks more layered with multiple characters…

I am selling it as a love story. But it’s not just a love story. When two old people are experiencing love, their expression is very different. Ahare Mon is actually a drama which delves into love, loneliness, companionship. It’s in the same space as Maacher Jhol, which is a drama that uses food as a metaphor. The challenge with Ahare Mon is that the four stories run parallel. It’s not like Sandip Ray’s Chaar, with four separate stories, or Dus Kahaniyaan. When you watch these four stories, you don’t know why you are watching them together, but you’ll learn at the end. It’s a new thing in Bengali cinema.

Barring Adil Hussain and Chitrangada Chakraborty, you have already worked with the rest of the cast, including Anjan Dutt, Mamata Shankar, Paoli, Parno Mittra and Ritwick Chakraborty. Do you repeat your actors because you know what they are capable of, or the fact that star power is on the wane?

If I know casting someone will mean selling five more tickets, I will cast him, within the budget that I have. But that’s not the case in Bengali films. So, by taking these actors, I at least know that my film will be good. Also, I am confident about the pool of actors. I see Ritwick in everything — he can be a masterchef or a thief. He is also there in Ink, my next. He is special. Mamata Shankar fits into a space where no one belongs. There’s Madhabi Mukherjee and Sabitri Chatterjee, but Mamata Shankar, despite being in a certain age bracket, is also very youthful. Anjanda is one of the best actors we have, though it’s difficult handling him…

Is it because he is a director himself?

No, he is plain whimsical. He has his own films to think of, his scripts to work on… I have to handle things beyond the film when it comes to Anjanda. It’s never him and the film. That’s a challenge. Having worked with him in Shaheb Bibi Golaam, I have learnt to do that.

What about the two-minute appearance of Dev?

Chitra’s (Chitrangada) story is about Dev. She is obsessed with him. So, he appears. Why and how he does so, is something one has figure out. If he didn’t appear, the film would have been incomplete. I went to him and asked, ‘Erokom ekta byapar, tumi korbe?’ He said yes, but asked, ‘Release kobe? Amar chhobir sathe clash korchhe na toh?’ It wasn’t, and he came on board.

Have you seen Dev’s films?

One or two. I have seen Khoka 420. I also saw Zulfiqar. On TV, I watched parts of Yoddha and Paglu. I can’t call myself a Dev fan, but I can understand the craze about him. When we were shooting with him at a hospital, I took a peek outside to find half the city gathered there.

For any hero, does this craze translate into box-office rage?

Right now, it does not. I didn’t take Dev for the box office. I wanted someone for whom an adolescent girl would be crazy. For Bumbada (Prosenjit), a girl that age wouldn’t be mad. For Sourav Ganguly again, the madness is not steeped in romance.

Dev fitted the character I was looking at.

Apart from Dev, there are other twists…

Ahare Mon has a twist. One story has a twist which has a bearing on the entire film. In the countdown videos, we are telling people, watch the film but don’t reveal the twist. In one particular story, the clues are hidden and in the end, you will know what this is about. Also, the end credits are designed differently. I don’t like it when people get up before a film’s ending. I want to hold the audience back.

Srijit Mukherji has penned the lyrics of Monta ahare. Your relationship with him has been the point of much speculation since Baishe Srabon.How did the so-called bitterness translate into such a fruitful collaboration?

He kept extending his hand and I kept refusing it for a long time. Then I found no reason to not extend my hand. It’s been a long time. Long back, there were other forces that kept us apart, more than ourselves. During that time, both of us didn’t interact. Some would tell me what he said. Others told him what I said. There was no way we could verify what the other said and many utilised the situation to their benefit. From then, the situation has changed a lot. He likes my work; I liked a couple of his works…

Now, two directors can’t be friends. True or false?

They can’t be friends, but they can be collaborators. It’s difficult to become friends at a time when only five films run in a year. But the show of friendship is important. If I say Arindamda’s films are bad or Shibuda can’t make films, that’s bound to do a lot more harm to the industry than what we are doing. Even if some fake what they say, it’s good for the film industry.

Who are your industry friends?

Going by what I said, my friends are Mainak (Bhaumik), Srijit in recent times, Arindamda… It’s different with Arindamda. If I am in trouble, I can call him and say, ‘Amake banchao’. He will do that without a murmur. Then, Anjanda to some extent. He is more of a mentor, who asked me to write my first script — Vanish. I will always be indebted to him. To me, he is a bouncing board.

From reviewer to filmmaker, did you blend naturally into the film industry?

The industry was not so welcoming when I made an entry.

During Paanch Adhyay I could feel the vibes — ‘E abar keno esheche chhobi banate?’ There was no grand presence at the premiere; also, not many liked the producer. Shibuda was the only person who helped me because he was making Accident for the same producer. We had the music launch at the same place. Also, Mainak lent his support. But largely, the industry refused to watch the film. Rituda (Rituparno Ghosh) later watched it on DVD. But most people — including Srijit, Arindamda, whose office space was used in the film — didn’t watch the film. The industry ignored the film and the media too did the same because of my association with a newspaper. After that, a lot of people had already drawn the conclusion that I was of no good when Shaheb Bibi Golaam happened. The film had a good run and it also received seven

Filmfare Awards

(East). Suddenly, everyone sat up and took notice. Even now I feel if I am in the same room as Srijit, Shibuda and Arindamda, the mic would come to me last. Whether it’s because of my filmography, the fact that I am yet to deliver a big hit or that I was part of a newspaper, I don’t know. But I am yet to feel the warmth and love of this industry.

Last but not the least, a lot of filmmakers say reviews do more harm than good. As a reviewer, are you in a position to ignore reviews?

I ignore reviews that make no sense. After Shaheb Bibi Golaam, a Bengali newspaper wrote in its review that Anjanda was a serial killer whereas he played a contract killer. Now, can I give importance to such a review? It’s wrong that reviews do more harm than good. There was a time when people would go to theatres after reading reviews; now things have changed a lot. But reviews do have an impact and they should have. If you are paying money to buy a paper, you will read its take on a film. Reviews can’t be ignored.