Returning to the silver screen in Kahaani 2 , four years after their first collaboration in Kahaani , filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh and Vidya Balan have a strong rumour to contend with: of not being on talking terms between the two films.
A valuable lesson
“It was all a silly ego tiff between friends and the credit must go to Vidya for extending the olive branch,” says Ghosh. Calling their behaviour immature in retrospect, Ghosh seems to have learnt a valuable lesson for life — there’s nothing between friends that an honest conversation cannot solve. Moving on for both the artistes was a rewarding experience, because of which Kahaani 2 became a reality.
The writing of the film and nine months of moulding the characters in his head was quite taxing. Ghosh says, “I’m not a trained writer, so I have to get into their heads. I have to live like Durga Rani Singh [Vidya Balan’s character] for sometime to understand her world, which can get quite difficult. Every time I went into Durga’s head, it took me quite a while to recover.” Balan, however, was able to become the character quite effortlessly and amazed Ghosh with her dexterity.
‘Rampal like never before’
Most of Ghosh’s films have been marked by high-octane performances, be it Kahaani or the Soumitra Chatterjee and Radhika Apte-starrer short, Ahalya . The trailer of Kahaani 2 promises to carry this trend forward. Complimenting Arjun Rampal, who plays a cop in the film, he says, “Arjun is an incredibly talented actor and I can guarantee that nobody has seen him like this.” Which is something to look forward to, considering Rampal’s last outing was in Rock On!! 2, which fared poorly at the box office.
When quizzed on the Kolkata connect in his films, Ghosh’s answer is interspersed with Bengali phrases, revealing the nostalgia he strongly feels for the city. “I would like to set most of my films in Kolkata because I grew up there, I understand the city and its people.”
Debunking the touristy notions of the City of Joy, he says for him a city is not made by the physical spaces rather it is the people who lend it character. His films have explored nooks and corners of the bustling city to its fullest. “If the script demands that I set the film in Kolkata, I will. However, I cannot force the city onto the film.”
It’s because of the city that the background score and music play a very important role in the film. “It’s rare, in Kolkata, to be walking in the streets and not hear music playing somewhere,” says Ghosh. Clearly, the filmmaker understands the pulse of his hometown as well as the nuances of cinema and has been marrying the two rather well. As if reinforcing this belief, he adds, “In cinema, you have to create a world which is made by its people, not its spaces. Once you understand the people, you understand the world.”
Battle for attention
Will there be a shocking climax similar to one in Kahaani, one of the best thrillers of its time? Ghosh immediately brushes aside the term ‘thriller’ and says, “I don’t believe in these categories. If I am able to engage the audience for the first 100 minutes of the film, then they will be intrigued by the final 20.” Calling the film-viewing experience a battle for attention, Ghosh says, “If you can keep the audiences engrossed in the film and away from the distractions, such as their phones and social media, you’ve won the battle.”
Anyone who has watched Ghosh’s recent films would recognise a common strain running through them: intrigue and mystery. “It stems from my childhood fascination for stories like Byomkesh Bakshi, Enid Blyton’s Famous Five and Secret Seven [series], Satyajit Ray, James Hadley Chase and comics like Tintin and Asterix,” says Ghosh.
The fond memory of staying up at night to unravel the mystery is what drives Ghosh to tell stories, which would give his audiences a similar experience. He’s even debuted as detective Byomkesh Bakshi in legendary filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh’s Satyanweshi (2013). Laughingly, Ghosh recalls how terrifying it is to be an actor and how he decided to stick behind the camera than in front of it: “As much as it is creative, being an actor is also technical. You’ve to remember how to move, where the camera and light is. Baap re! I can’t do it.”
‘Greatest achievement’
As much as his last films have played on the old world charm of ‘Calcutta’, Ghosh has also delved into the web space calling it a part of the future world of filmmaking. With Ahalya (2015) , Ghosh’s critically acclaimed short film, he has explored a story from the Ramayana , through a modern lens and a dark twist. “The team worked in a manner as they would on a feature film. The only difference was that the duration was not two hours but 15 minutes,” says Ghosh. His biggest achievement was, however, working with veteran actor, Soumitra Chatterjee, who plays the lead in the short film. “That was my eternal dream!” says an excited Ghosh.
Coming back to Kahaani 2, Ghosh and his team have added the name of the character that Balan plays, ‘Durga Rani Singh’ to the title, distinguishing it from the previous one. “There’s no pressure of Kahaani because we never set out to make a film better than first one,” says Ghosh. He does feel a sense of responsibility to deliver good content to the audience. Anxiety, however, creeps into his voice as the verdict on his film draws closer. With fingers crossed, Ghosh signs off eagerly awaiting a decision.
The writer is an intern with The Hindu
