DT e-Paper, Saturday, 12 November, 2016

Interview
19
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2016
DT
‘I don’t mind a bad film, but I
mind a dishonest one’
Indranil Roychowdhury on attending the Dhaka Literary Festival
• Shuprova Tasneem
Indranil Roychowdhury is
best known for his feature
film Phoring, which garnered
acclaim at film festivals
around the world and was
awarded four Filmfare awards
(East) and the Rituporno Ghosh
Memorial Award for best First
Feature. Director/producer
Roychowdhury, who will be
attending the Dhaka Literary
Festival as one of the panelists,
speaks to Dhaka Tribune about his
creative process and the future of
film-making.
Tell us about your process - is
it harder to get started or to
keep going?
It is very easy to make a film
nowadays, but making your own
film on your own terms without
compromising is difficult, all
over the world. There is a huge
amount of selling, marketing
and branding that goes with the
actual core creative work. With
my commercial work, I listen
to people and make what they
want. When it comes to films
though, I don’t mind a bad film
but I strongly mind a dishonest
film that I don’t believe in and
that includes ideological and
procedural compromise. To me,
the depths and sincerity I’ve put
into my work is more important
than the volume of it. Of course
the commercial stuff I do is my
bread and butter and is necessary
for me to survive, but in terms
of film I strongly believe in this,
and until my films make a lot of
money, I know I’ll be fighting this
out.
What makes a film great for
you?
You. This isn’t just for films, it’s
true about anything. Your voice
has to come through in whatever
you’re doing. That’s the only
purpose of art - discovering your
own unique voice and making
that discernible. There are no
set grammatical rules for that - it
can be a borrowed narrative, but
are you making it yours? Are you
owning it and representing it in
a way that is completely yours?
as you grow and understand
your craft, you need to develop
your own grammar while
negotiating existing rules and
making that shift from tradition to
individuality.
What inspired you to get into
filmmaking?
Movies fascinated me from a very
early stage in life. I always liked
stories, including those that are
told well by word of mouth, and
I like the way people tell stories.
And as I grew up I realised they
have great value - of course they
are entertaining, but stories also
tell us a lot about who we are and
can heal us. In the long run, stories
are all that are left – if you look
back, you’ll see it’s the mythology
that stays, more so than the
history. Stories have a very strong
role in shaping the world, and that
comes with the good and the bad.
Name one thing you love
about modern cinema, and
one thing you hate.
It will be painful and
long. You may be
favoured by luck,
and you can learn the
craft like in school
to a certain extent.
But what you can’t
learn is how to see
yourself as a person
and an artist
Storytelling has proliferated
now to a level that it has become
second nature, and storytelling as
a profession has taken a backseat -
even riots are organised based on
stories. But the moment you say
that, you have a job of rescuing
something that is capable of far
greater things and bring it back to
the purpose it was meant to serve.
The nature of technology has also
made things more accessible,
and quite often styles can be
copied and made to look like great
cinema. Just like advertising, even
filmmaking can fool you.
But in the same breath, all
of this is also a beautiful thing,
because the process of filmmaking
has been democratised. It’s a bit
like Pandora’s box! I dislike that
filmmaking is the easiest thing
and anyone can do it, but I also
love that, because it is becoming
simpler and we can realise great
amounts of potential that was
previously hidden before. I think
we are moving towards supreme
simplicity of filmmaking, where
it will be just like sitting down to
write a poem or a story.
What advice would you give to
young filmmakers?
It will be painful and long. You
may be favoured by luck, and you
can learn the craft like in school
to a certain extent. But what you
can’t learn is how to see yourself
as a person and an artist. How do
you relate to the world? You have
to be patient, and you have to wait
with dignity, work with dignity
and when required, leave with
dignity, and deal with the huge
financial, social and personal costs
that only you will feel. That part is
not taught in film school, but you
have to figure it out yourself. You’ll
fall and get injured, and what you
do with your injuries is what your
life will be like.
What are your expectations
about the Dhaka Lit Fest?
I’m really excited about DLF.
I’ve been working to establish
a common ground between the
Bengals, not just for cinema, but
for art, literature, poetry etc. We
now have the internet to aid us in
this process, and I think is the only
way that artists can communicate
directly with the audience.
Establishing this commonality
will be great for our language and
culture, and I think is the only way
forward particularly for Bengali
cinema. If we can figure this out,
it will unleash potentials that are
beyond our imagination. At the
DLF, I want to share these ideas
and find the common ground to
create this model. Collaboration
between the Bengals is one of the
core elements of the kind of future
I am thinking of. •