Director Rohan Ghose was in talks with Balaji for a while now about his Hindi feature film and web-shows. “Recently they approached me to make something that was slightly different for their platform. The concept was shared by them and they let me shape it the way I wanted it to,” smiles Rohan, whose short film Brown is streaming on ALTBalaji as a part of Hai Taubba. A chat with Rohan...
Tell us about the storyline?
Tuhina Das plays Mithila, the woman whose journey we follow... she is facing a strange scenario in her marital life. Her husband (played by Abhishek Singh) in order to hide his own shortcomings in bed makes an indecent proposal in order to transfer his guilt onto her. Meanwhile, Dhrubo (played by Shaheb Bhattacherjee) is a photographer who is on the verge of being caught on his philandering ways by his girlfriend Kajori (played by Triparna Bardhan)... he is walking a tightrope. Their worlds collide in an unforeseen way.
Why the title?
I named the story Brown because it’s the colour of dark chocolate, bittersweet but addictive much like an affair you have on the side. The story cuts across time as a one-night stand ends up wreaking havoc in the lives of two couples.
Tell us about your decision to cast Tuhina?
Casting Tuhina was a no-brainer for me. I have co-directed her in Damayanti over two seasons and have the utmost respect for her discipline as a performer. Mithila’s character was tailor-made for an actor of her calibre. This was a happy collaboration yet again.
How was it like directing the actors?
Shaheb was wonderful as Dhrubo while Abhishek excelled as the insecure and over-thinking husband of Mithila, Ankit. Ananya Sen plays Mansi (Ankit’s BFF) and carries her role to perfection. This was the first time I have directed Triparna.
Why make it in Hindi?
This was shot in Hindi because it’s a part of a national anthology series called Hai Taubba, now streaming on ALTBalaji. And I feel language is a barrier we need to overcome only in our minds. My DoP (Prasenjit Chaudhury) and I shot it keeping the larger audience in mind. Anirban Maity edited this while my old favourite Nabarun Bose scored the music. The film was produced by Keylight India and Joydip Banerjee was the creative producer.
How challenging was it to shoot this as a short?
Short films have a life of their own. Keep it too short then it does not make enough sense. Drag it for too long and it becomes, well a drag. This was a complex story that needed the right spaces to be given their due. All characters are intertwined without actually looking so. I had to make sure while writing as well as directing this that not one character should be ignored because that would never help the narrative as complex as this.
Are you a fan of dark chocolate?!
Yes, but not the too dark ones. One can safely say I have too much of a sweet tooth to venture out that far.
