“If I start thinking of an audience I wouldn’t be able to make a
film in the way I want to
tell my story, says ShoojitSircarin an In-Conversation session at IFFI 2018
Another common link among most of ShoojitSircar’s films, apart from a fun take
on bodily functions, is the fact that the premise of his films has been based
in different parts of Delhi. Shoojit’s fondness for the national capital – a
place that he has fond memories of growing up in, has made him feature
different parts of Delhi in his films such as Piku, Vicky Donor, Pink and
October.
The talented film director, best known for telling
unconventional stories, however admits that he had to step into the shoes of a
Producer, not by choice but by compulsion. While speaking at the session,
Shoojit said, “Around the time that we were working on Vicky Donor, the film
industry experienced an influx of corporates and big studios. When we
approached these studios with Vicky Donor, they thought it’d be a sleazy C
Grade film. The studios didn’t have any faith in the film. Similarly, when we
were ready with Piku, people branded it as being a Bengali film. Questions were
raised on ‘How can an Indian superstar have a constipation problem?’ I told my producer
Ronnie (Screwvala) that we need to put a full stop to this somewhere and
decided that we do it ourselves. The frustration nudged me to get into
production.”
When asked if the
success of Vicky Donor and its impact made his life easier for his other films,
Shoojit dismissed the notion and said, “No, it didn’t. As a film when I’m
approaching a subject, it is a blind game that I’m playing. It’s a territory
that you cannot be sure about. I don’t make films for an audience. First I have
to like my film. What or how the audience feels is not in my control. The
‘Consumer is the King’ only when the Box Office works. When a person is ill, he
remembers the doctor...after recovering, the doctor is forgotten,” quipped
Shoojit,
while adding, “If I start thinking of an audience I wouldn’t be
able to make a film in the way I want to tell my story. The audience is the
last thing that has ever crept in my mind.”
The ‘out of the box’ producer - director also spoke elaborately
about the films that inspire him. While referring to films by Satyajit Ray and
Tapan Sinha, Shoojit confessed that he finds himself to be ‘quite mediocre’,
while adding that he aspires produce work of the level of the aforementioned
stalwarts. He further added, “I have also grown up watching films like Deewar
and Madhumati. But somewhere the set pattern of our films has polluted our
creative mind to a certain extent. We need to go beyond the commercial
stereotypes of item numbers and over the top melodrama.”
Later
in the day, Shoojit walked the red carpet with the Producer of his film October
- ArijitLahiri