Veteran actress and filmmaker Aparna Sen, who has made path-breaking films like 36 Chowringhee Lane and Mr. and Mrs. Iyer , is ready with her next project , Sonata , a psychological exploration of three unmarried women facing mid-life crises.
Despite the weighty subjects she chooses for her films, Sen says she never makes films to propagate social messages - the medium, for her, is not a preacher’s domain.
“I make films about human beings that may have entertainment value or not, depending on the story. I don’t believe in sending out conscious ‘messages’, as a film is not a preacher’s pulpit,” Sen said in an email interview from Kolkata.
She, however, feels that “all human beings have their own politics - whether they are conscious of it or not”. “This politics is bound to be reflected in the work of a serious filmmaker. When I make a film, I try to tell a human story to the best of my ability. I do not set out either to preach messages or purely to entertain,” she added.
Sen’s latest directorial venture, releasing on April 21, is adapted from the play “Sonata” by Mahesh Elkunchwar. She said “Sonata” appealed to her so much as a play that she decided to make it into a film. The film talks about the life of three unmarried women friends - Aruna Chaturvedi (professor), Dolon Sen (banker) and Subhadra Parekh (journalist) played by Sen, Shabana Azmi and Lillete Dubey, respectively, facing mid-life crises.
As a takeaway, the National Award winner hopes to connect to people over the “warmth and understanding between the friends” through the film.
Talking about working with Shabana again, Sen said: “Our journey together has been one of mutual trust and respect. Even though Sati , my first film with her, did not do well commercially, she never lost her faith in me as a director and worked with me again in my telefilm Picnic , and many years later, in my feature film 15 Park Avenue , and now, Sonata . Now she says that she would like to work in every single film of mine. As for me, I respect her hugely as an actor that I can always depend on, and even more so as a socially conscious human being.”
