The undeterred Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s debut feature , Asha Jaoar Majhe (Labour of Love) has won him a clutch of awards, including the Fedora Award for best director of a debut film at the Venice International Film Festival, 2014, and two awards, at the 62 National Awards, best film by a debut director and best sound design, by Anish John. Aditya was born and raised in Calcutta, studied at St. Xavier’s Collegiate School and is a graduate in graphic design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.
The film, shot primarily in Calcutta, is an unfurling of the lives of an ordinary, nameless couple, who are caught in a mundane cycle of work and domestic responsibilities amid times of recession. Hailed by critics as stylistically brilliant, Labour of Love will be released in India on June 26.
In a telephonic interview, Aditya speaks about his film. Excerpts
What do you think madeLabour of Lovesuch a huge success?
Right from the start, there was only one thing that carried the movie through — honesty of expression.
What sparked the idea for the film?
The idea came from Italo Calvino’s The Adventure of a Married Couple . The film is an exploration of love I saw around me. My family didn’t always express their feelings, but they showed their love and concern through little things they did for each other, through food, clothes. This finds expression in the film.
It has been termed a ‘silent’ film, as there are no dialogues….
Firstly, it’s not a ‘silent’ film. There are voices and background sounds. And it has dialogues, not in the conventional sense of the spoken word, but through visuals. When we started shooting, we got into a meditative space. Towards the end, the film had become its own personality. It had developed a language of its own.
The dialogue sequence, eventually, didn’t work in the film.
Your film has been compared with Satyajit Ray’sAparajito…
I feel absolutely indifferent. Because comparisons, for me, in any subjective media are stupid.
What were some of the responses you received at the Venice Film Festival?
We got a full house and a standing ovation. The film touched the audience in many ways. More than the awards, it is when the film is appreciated by people. That lingers on much more.
Why did you choose to set the film in North Calcutta?
It’s what came naturally to me and the film. It is a very organic, normal process. Filmmaking starts with a feeling that ends up as a film. It’s like getting a flow that you need to take out.
Unless I feel that uneasiness within me, I don’t feel the need to make a film.
Basabdatta Chatterjee and Ritwick Chakraborty are a perfect fit for the film…
The casting was done by my wife, Jonaki. The actors’ capacity to adapt and patience were remarkable.
Ritwick was a complete natural. I wanted someone who belonged to a rich North Calcutta family, but who has lost everything. Basabdatta had this classic North Calcutta look.
How did you go about distributing the film in India? It’s surprising for an award-winning film
It was actually the awards that made them wary. The distributors thought it would be an art film.
It wasn’t difficult to release the film at all. There were no hurdles as such. In fact, it was the smoothest part of the film. We went to PVR and Inox and they said okay. We are not expecting commercial returns from the film. If we make money out of the film that is great. But the distribution is an attempt to exhibit the film. It is for those who want to watch the film, but don’t know how to get access to it.
What is the filmmaking process like for you? You said forLabour of Love, you entered a meditative space.
To some extent, it’s a clinical process. When we come for a shoot, we have to get done what we plan.
The emotional part, so to speak, is done in the beginning. That is the writing part. I do get carried away during the film. There’s a lot of improvisation that happens. The mind is there, but the heart also gets affected.
Do you have any favourite directors?
Real life experiences inspire me the most. I have favourite films, not directors. I watch all kinds of films, Bengali, Hindi. I take back something from every film. It could be an emotion, a mood.
When I watched Bachna ae Haseeno , the scene that stood out was between Ranbir Kapoor and Farooque Sheikh. I am not the sort to watch a film critically.
I can’t get into an objective space and watch a film. Films are a personal experience. Anyone is free to make it however he wants. I had a met a Japanese director in Shanghai recently. He told me, films is not a mass medium. It’s a one-on-one dialogue that happens.
Tell us a little about your venture For Films, which you started with Jonaki.
We had to start a company because of accounting purposes. It is so named because everything we do is for films.
