Director Suman Ghosh is the man behind Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen, an 81-minute documentary filmed in an unconventional format, that looks at actor-filmmaker Aparna Sen through some of her seminal films. With the film premiering at the International Film Festival Rotterdam today, in the presence of its director, t2 caught up with Ghosh for a chat.
You were working with Aparna Sen in your 2019 film Basu Poribar when you decided to revisit her life and work through a documentary. Was there a specific instance that sealed your decision?
t2 is instrumental in this. I interviewed Rinadi (Aparna Sen) on one of her birthdays for t2. It was an in-depth interview. It started from her childhood and we spoke about Chidananda Dasgupta (Sen’s father) right down to the current state of Indian politics. It was a two-hour-long chat and I got a lot of her inner feelings and passions and how they are shaped. I had recorded that interview and I decided to follow up what I had in a broader film.
During that interview, we spoke about her films, starting from 36 Chowringhee Lane, and I realised the seminal contribution of her films. A film like Parama (1985) was very important for feminism.
I also looked at her stint as the editor of Sananda and how Sananda has contributed significantly to many aspects of Bengali women. Starting from Mr and Mrs Iyer, I looked at the political stance in her films.
If you follow her career, you will see how her angst is intertwined beautifully with her work. There was her transition from feminist films like Sati and Parama. She talked about the environment in Yugant.
She has always raised her voice. Finding a person like her is rare these days. I have been fortunate to interact closely with people like Amartya Sen and Soumitra Chatterjee. All of them, including Reenadi,
have a Tagorean tradition of being liberal-minded, broad-minded and very curious individuals.
Their field of work is only one aspect of them as people. This genre of individuals — I call them renaissance men and women — is getting obliterated. I thought that she is an ideal person to portray this and to remain in posterity through a film.
What was her reaction when you told her that you wanted to make a film about her?
By the time I got down to doing it, we had a very close relationship. When we were shooting for Basu Poribar, after the shoot, I would go over to Soumitra Kaku’s house for adda. She would always tell me to go to her place for adda. But growing up, for us, she was a diva and still is. There was a feeling of awe which was difficult to cross. Subsequently, I did go over and our adda started. She used to cook for me and I got to know more about the person, her passion, and her dedication... we developed a bond.
One day, I told her that I was going to make a documentary based on the interview I did for t2. She didn’t say ‘yes’ or ‘ no’, it was a given and it was more of a formality of me asking her.
I think she had faith in me, given my aesthetics and who I am as a person. I never asked her: ‘Why did you make yourself amenable to a documentary by me?’
You have made Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen by revisiting the locations of her memorable films with her and telling her story through the lens of her films. What made you want to take this approach?
I didn’t want to make a straight documentary or biopic. I kept thinking of how to make it interesting structurally. I thought of the emotions I feel when I revisit my work. As I told you, her work and her views of life, who she is as a person are intertwined with her films. So, I thought of using that structurally.
When she talked about Parama, we took her to Parama’s (played by Rakhee) house, and that’s where I brought in the feminist aspect of her films. For Paromitar Ek Din, when she was walking down that famous corridor, I cut back to Rituparna (Sengupta) walking down that same corridor with the green windows in that film. My purpose was to enmesh her views and her work. So, the structure had a larger point also. And of course, it makes it more engaging.
The people who now live in the house in which Paromitar Ek Din was shot, wouldn’t allow us to shoot there. I thought: ‘What if Aparna Sen is thrust into that house in front of them?’ And I just took her there. We shot that bit also which made for novelty in structuring.
How many films did you revisit?
When I was interviewing Shabana (Azmi), she spoke about Sati and Rahul Bose about The Japanese Wife and Mr. and Mrs. Iyer. We spoke about Paromitar Ek Din at length and 36 Chowringhee Lane, the main film which started her (filmmaking) career. Goynar Baksho is a very interesting film with a humorous take on feminism. Konkona (Sensharma, Aparna Sen’s daughter) talks about Mr. and Mrs. Iyer and Iti Mrinalini. Parama and Yugant came up a lot. I have covered till The Rapist, which is her latest film.
Is there anything you discovered during this process that caught you by surprise?
She talked openly about her political views. And, of course, I asked her about the politics in her films. (Actor-director) Anjan Dutt spoke about how her life had been filled with so many complications throughout. Her daughter Kamalini talks about the trials that she went through personally and how that shows up in her films. I didn’t expect to get that on camera.
What do you think is Aparna Sen’s importance in world cinema?
I don’t think she got her due in world cinema. Unfortunately, a film like 36 Chowringhee Lane was not shown at a big film festival. The film festival circuit is a different ball game altogether. You can make a brilliant film and not get into a film festival. I don’t think that she was strategic in the way she made her films and the way she sold them to the world.
Of course, some of them went to Locarno and The Rapist won recently at Busan, but films like Paromitar Ek Din and Mrs and Mrs Iyer should have crossed more borders than they did. The original Parama is being shown at Rotterdam after so many years. I don’t know what happened when it was released. It made a lot of noise in Bengal and in Indian cinema but not globally. Shabana Azmi also says in my documentary: ‘I don’t think Rina got the international acclaim which she should have... she is one of the finest filmmakers ever in India.’
She has won so many National Awards. But I think she should have crossed borders through her films. 36 Chowringhee Lane was much better than many of the films that went to Berlin and Cannes, but it had its world premiere in Manila.
What made you want to name it Parama?
It is named after one of her most important films. I also believe it describes her perfectly. The name is Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen. It means the journey of her life and work and also the literal journey that I went on with her.
A big influence on my documentary was Shyam Benegal’s documentary on Satyajit Ray, in which he interviewed Ray. A filmmaker doing a documentary on another filmmaker gives a different perspective and I am a filmmaker who has directed her too. I know the concerns and the travails of a filmmaker.
When doing the documentary, for almost a year, I was not in touch with her. That was done to maintain objectivity. She is a good friend now and I love and respect her, but I didn’t want that to affect the film. I didn’t go to her house for a year, I didn’t do anything until I completed the film. She has not seen the film. I have said: ‘When you go to a film festival, I will take you there, you will see it there.’
You are working on a lot of projects simultaneously. That has not happened to you before...
Both Parama and The Scavenger of Dreams were done in 2022, they took some time in post-production and I waited because I wanted them to premiere at a big film festival. So it seems like it is all bunched together now. I did Kabuliwala and now the film starring Sharmila Tagore (Puratawn) is going to be released next year. Ideally, I don’t like to do more than one film a year.