In the happy banter streaming out of Aparna Sen’s Sonata , there is an unusual observation on feminism. “What awful creatures we are, no commitment, no aim, no ideology and we are not even feminists,” muses Subhadra, one of her single and not-so-young heroines. The director calls it the ‘item number’ of her film.
“It was there in the play. Shabana says since the lines are very tantalising it’s our item number,” she laughs. On a serious note she adds: “even though these women are not activists they are all living their lives in their own terms. In that sense they are true feminists.”
From the desolate walks of Miss Stoneham to the stricken eyes of Meenakshi and forlorn days of Snehmoy, almost all her characters are trapped in a tunnel of slow-burning loneliness. Aparna Sen agrees solitude is a recurring theme in her movies, “Solitude I think is a very important human condition, every single person is alone in some way or other. And I like to get at the core of that emotion, psychologically probe and explore it.” She adds that the poignancy evolves from empathy, the deep bond she builds with them. “I am against all forms of violence and so when my characters experience the trauma I can always gauge its intensity.”
Aparna Sen says she leaves behind parts of herself with each character she creates, “it’s a natural process by which they become extensions of myself.” Ask her whether Iti Mrinalini , a film woven around the chaotic life of an actress, has traces of her, and she says “only when it comes to the part where she is not quite at home with commercial cinema.” Aparna Sen is very verbal about her attitude towards mainstream as it lacks what she calls 'cinematic truth'. “I think it’s pseudo art driven by commercial concerns. When I find something inherently fake it bothers me,” she says.
Aparna Sen, who has adapted a couple of plays on screen, including her latest film, Sonata , maintains close ties with theatre, “I loved those plays. When I read Romeo and Juliet , about the warring families and the violence involved, I could easily connect it with the climate of intolerance in present-day India.”
As an artist Aparna Sen feels creative freedom is not something you can quell with power and tyranny. “Whether it be Padmavathi or S Durga , you cannot create a law and order situation to stop a film, especially in a democracy. You cannot tamper with the freedom of expression which is a constitutional right,” she says.
Gender bias
Aparna Sen says since the day she made her debut as an adolescent village tomboy in Satayajit Ray’s Sampati , she has never encountered any gender-bias or discrimination in the industry. She adds the only problem she faced so far was because of the subjects she chose. “Those were not mainstream and it was difficult to find funding. My first film was bankrolled by Shashi Kapoor and it was easy finding a producer for Paroma as well. When Sati and Yugant couldn’t please the box office, I did Paromitar Ek Din to prove I could make a film on a shoe-string budget. It went on to become a huge hit and after that it became a little easier.” An actor who went for a role reversal at the heights of her career, Aparna Sen says she prefers to stay behind the camera, a place far more rewarding. “I didn’t like the films in which I acted, I didn’t believe in that kind of cinema. So I switched my role so that I could make films that meet my criteria,” she winds up.
