Andarkahini is Arnab Middya’s debut Bengali film. It has four different stories of four different women. Well-known actress Priyanka Sarkar is playing the central characters of all the stories. In a conversation with Tellychakkar.com, the director talked about his debut film, challenges he faced, lead actress Priyanka and more. Excerpts:
Your debut film Andarkahini is about relationships. Many films on this genre have been made. Please tell us how the film is different from others…
Andarkahini is a story about the relationship of four women. It’s better to say that it’s the story about women in the society. The first story explores a girl’s relationship with her father and her boyfriend. The second story focuses on the relationship between a brother and his sister. The third explores the relationship between a husband and wife during recession and the fourth is about the relationship between two girls. The girls are so close to each other that they share everything under the sun. Basically, there are myriad relationships in a woman’s life but these are primary. And there are certain rituals and traditions in our society with which we are habituated. For example, following our tradition, we touch the feet of our elders at any occasion but the opposite cannot happen. If it happens, it will appear odd to us. So, the film features four such cases, which we are not comfortable sharing with others.
What inspired you to make this film?
I think currently our relationships are going through a crisis. We hardly meet people in person because we communicate via Whatsapp, messenger etc. We have become so tech savvy that we are basically now performing the role of our relationships. Somewhere we are ignoring the value of relationships and we get to see its consequences on newspapers. So, my inspiration was society itself.
You mentioned that in Andarkahini you have shown many things which we are not comfortable sharing with others. So, are you concerned about the Censor Board?
I am little worried about the reaction of the Censor Board. Upon seeing the film, they might ask why I have shown such things. But I can assure one thing that people can watch the film with their families. Take an intimate scene for example. You will understand that a particular scene is about intimacy but we haven’t shown the details on screen. And how we shot the scenes that people will get to understand once they watch the film.
Why did you zero in on Priyanka Sarkar for the film?
I wanted someone who can be molded for the four different characters because all are different when it comes to social strata. I have seen her previous films too like Hoichoi. Also, I wanted to work with an actress who doesn’t have any airs of being an actress. Considering everything, she seemed best for the film. I had to think about the production also. Apart from an actor, you also need a good human being.
You were into marketing so tell us how film making happened?
I used to work for a media house and then I joined National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). I consider myself lucky that my profession allowed me to read some really brilliant scripts. So, it was while working for NFDC that I got the inspiration of making a film.
Your previous experience must have contributed in your film making…
Actually, my marketing background has helped me to understand my audience well. I know what kind of audience will watch my film. I am looking forward to a global audience. I want to show my film at various film festivals so it will have subtitles too. Let’s see how things turn out…
As a debutant director what kind of challenges you faced?
By God’s grace, I did not face much problem. Due to my marketing profession, I have worked for other film industries too. Yes, the work and thought process of Kolkata is different. Apart from this, there were some basic issues like facing difficulty in finding a proper location for shooting etc.
Best wishes, Arnab!
Produced by the director himself, the film will release in 2017.
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