Nazarband

Making its world premiere at 25th Busan International Film Festival this week, National Award-winning filmmaker Suman Mukhopadhyay’s new film Captive or Nazarband, is a film that speaks to the viscera of its viewers. Inspired by a short story called Chuti Nakoch by noted Bengali writer Ashapurna Devi, the film is about Vasanti and Chandu. This unlikely pair of two jailbirds, embark on a harrowing and unpredictable odyssey across the intimidating terrain of Kolkata. It is a strange journey, imbued with heavy emotions like anxiety, distrust, dependence, hatred, care, greed, frustration and necessity. The theme of human survival, fascinatingly, leads the narrative. 

Shot extensively in Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal, the film is produced by Pawan Kanodia and AVA Film Productions. We connected with Suman to have a conversation about his cinematic journey, the new film, and more. Excerpts follow:

How were you led towards the world of cinema and filmmaking?
I am privileged to have been born in a family where theatre and cinema is a part of daily existence. It is an ordinary middle-class family from the suburbs, but is rich in its cultural associations. My father is an eminent theatre director and a National Award-winning actor. He got the award for Mrinal Sen's film Parashuram. I have been on the stage since my early childhood. So I grew up in a cultural ambiance and watched good theatre and films. However, I began my serious practice in the mid-80s. I was grappling with a few things, trying to locate my strengths and weaknesses. It was a search to find my true interest, and the proficiency of my artistic vocabulary. One must identify the best way of communication with the society, a medium that reveals your organic reflexes, and artistically transforms your subliminal thoughts. I used to act, but at one point I stopped. I felt acting is not my forte. I cannot articulate the rationale of such a feeling, but it was an implicit realisation. 

Since I had easy access to theatre practice, because of my father, after I finished high school, I started directing theatre and joined a film-production company. I practically did all kinds of works — from an electric boy on the sets to being a production assistant; creating corporate AVs for different products to directing a few documentaries on Indian theatre directors for Doordarshan. It was a really hands-on learning process. Then I directed my first short-film, which got selected for the London Short Film Festival and the Kerala Short Film Festival. I attended the festivals and that provoked a new sense of desire. Also, I never stopped watching films, all kinds of films, which I still do. People still ask me that did I choose to make films after I found success in my theatre. My answer is 'no'. Of course, theatre is in my blood, but films are my first love. When I did my feature film Herbert, which got a National Award for Best Regional Feature Film, and received accolades globally, the road was paved.

Which filmmakers and films were your early formative influences?
Of course, Ray and Ghatak in my youth. I took a very small filmmaking course at New York Film Academy in 2000. That course exposed me to lots of young filmmakers and new films. I was deeply moved by the films of Abbas Kiarostami, Michael Haneke, Zia Jhangke, and Nuri Bilge Ceylan. 

What inspired your film Nazarband, and what is at its core?
Nazarband is essentially a love story. I was reading short stories by Ashapurna Devi, the eminent author. Her stories are predominantly based indoors and deal with middle-class households. But this story, Chuti Nakoch, is an outdoor story with two marginal characters. The story grabbed me by the jugular. I found a visual architecture within the story and two very interesting characters. I immediately got the rights of the story and started developing a screenplay.

Could you take us behind your creative process for this film — the scriptwriting, shooting, casting, et cetera?
It is a long creative process. It took almost three years to complete the film. I drafted a screenplay and approached Mr. Pawan Kanodia to produce it. He has produced three of my earlier films. Pawan-Ji agreed, but mentioned a definite budget, which is quite restricted. So, I suggested that we not use any known cast and he accepted that risk. My friend, Anustup Basu, who is a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, is a script consultant in all of my films. He had already brought in a few new elements interpolating into my screenplay. But I was looking for a screenwriter who can write the Hindi dialogues. I knew Asad Hussain and reached out to him. He consented and that collaboration was just great. He joined as a dialogue writer, but his contribution to the script and the film had been immense. So I acknowledged him as a creative associate. 

The cinematographer, Kate Macdonough, came to Kolkata to shoot my film. However, the city was not unknown to her. She was here before and had seen the city from the inside. Her eyes are just phenomenal. And the best thing about her is that she never says no. She is ready to shoot anywhere, anytime. She will take the camera on her shoulder and shoot with the available light. Tinni Mitra as an editor was immersed in the project and her resilience is highly commendable. We practically edited the film twice. We had completed a version and then participated in an editing workshop in Kerala, organised by Kerala Chalachitra Academy. The workshop was with Olivia Stewart, Jacques Comets, and Bina Paul. After the responses we received at the workshop, we unpacked the film and reedited it. We ended up with a new film, the version that we have now. This change eventually provoked all the departments. The music director Prabuddha Banerjee, who is naggingly meticulous and immensely creative, threw away all the previous compositions and made some fresh compositions. The sound design had to be completely new as well, so Bigyna Dahal came in and did a stupendous job.

Both Vasanti and Chandu are extremely intriguing characters. How did you visually construct them?
Chandu and Vasanti, the protagonists of the film, are the chief motivators. I tried to get into their minds, and I knew that if I can somehow get inside them, they will take the film forward. They are psychologically so apart, so I knew that the difference will transpire into the dynamics that the film needs.

Coming to the cast, I came to know Indira Tiwari (Vasanti) when I was directing a play at National School of Drama with the final year students. Indira was actually not a part of my team and was working with another director. Nazarband was then in my mind. She used to come and sit in my rehearsals sometimes and somehow she was emerging as Vasanti. I had also seen Tanmay Dhanania’s (Chandu) earlier films. I called him one day and we met up at WTF in Versova and we agreed to work together. Then I called Tanmay and Indira to do a workshop. The workshop sealed the fate of the film. And I must say, without Indira and Tanmay this film would have been a different film.   

What was the most challenging part about making this film?
The film is predominantly shot outdoors, and on the most crowded roads of Kolkata. The cityscape is one of the main characters in the film. We didn't have an adequate budget to hire security or have vanity vans for the cast and the crew. Also getting the permissions are very difficult. So we decided to shoot with a minimal crew and somehow reached the locations with the actors and the camera bang on the spot. We planned the mise-en-scene quite meticulously beforehand and shot them before we could come into the notice of police or passersby. Then the Deoghar shoot was also very challenging. We had to match the time of Shravan Mela, when the devotees collect water from the Ganges in Sultanpur, Bihar, and walk 160 kilometers to Deoghar to put water on Lord Shiva. We planted our actors among the huge groups and followed them with the camera. That was immensely difficult and strenuous. I truly appreciate the dexterity and alacrity of my cast and crew, who made it work.

There are many themes that the film explores, what do you hope the viewers take away from it?
As I mentioned earlier, the story is essentially a love story between two disparate underdog characters, Vasanti and Chandu. And the film is a visceral look at their resilience and how they navigate different kinds of oppression. It is a heartfelt exploration into the depths of companionship and the meaning of rejection and acceptance. If the viewers identify with the characters and move with their psychological struggles, their fragility and instability, the film will work. 

With the film’s selection at Busan International Film Festival now, what has been the experience like so far, and what is your vision ahead for the film?
The selection in Busan is a great boost for the film. It is an important film festival internationally and the global film community is curious about the selection. I have already received invitations from major European festivals after Busan. 

I think a theatrical release is very important for any film. That's when a film gets its true validation. But in the present circumstances, it seems difficult. Me and my producer are still looking forward to a chance to release it theatrically. Recently, the OTTs are heavily bent towards the star cast and mainstream films. So it is getting more and more difficult for these kinds of films to get a slot there. But we will wait for more to happen in the festival circuit. 

How have you been coping with the pandemic and what will be the new normal for you post it?
This pandemic has given me a chance to stop and look back at my artistic life. It gave a new perspective for the future. Although we are going through terrible times, not only is this pandemic nerve-racking, the socio-political domain is nightmarish. But during the lockdown, I got back into reading. I took a decision to not binge-watch but to binge-reading. 

Lastly, what are you working on next?
I am working on the film Eyes and Feet (previously titled as Paradise in Flames), based in Kashmir, which got an award for script development from MPA/APSA Film Fund in Brisbane, 2017. The script is done, now I am looking for funds and seeking co-production. It is a very difficult film to make. We know the situation in Kashmir. The film is about a young Kashmiri footballer and his sister, who is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I also have a long-cherished dream to make a film on Manik Bandyopadhyay's novel PutulNaacher Itikatha(Annals of Dolls' Dance). I am working on that as well.
 

Text Nidhi Verma