Posted:
It appears so reading the interview..
----------------
Satadru Ojha
It's six months to the day since the Kahaani (released March 9) of his life changed. But the accolades haven't changed Sujoy Ghosh. When we meet him, the director is immersed in Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay's children's story, Gourer Koboch. "Shobkota Shirshendu eksathe porey phelbo," he says, before settling down for this interview. Here's Sujoy on spinning stories, Vidya (Bagchi and Balan) and bringing Amitabh Bachchan and Naseeruddin Shah together for the first time.
Six months on, you've finally started working on the Kahaani sequel...
This is my sabbatical year, when I won't make films but sit back and work on a script ' actually two of them. So I have Badla, a revenge tale where I want to cast Mr (Amitabh) Bachchan and Naseerji (Naseeruddin Shah). And yes, I'm working on Kahaani 2. It'll be a true sequel, where the story of the first film moves forward.
And which way does it move?
It's Vidya's (Bagchi) story. I want to know what happens to her, what happens to Rana (Parambrata Chattopadhyay), to Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). You'll get to see a new Vidya (Balan), more physical. And she'll have to train hard for it. It's something she's uncomfortable with, which is why I'll make her do just that. Feluda hobe Vidya.
Vidya's character is constantly chased by her guilt ' that had she not sent her husband to Kolkata, he might have been still living, she might have had a family. Which is why, after his death, there's a desperation in her. She invites danger, the impulse is almost self-destructive. It's as if she wants to kill herself. We'll explore these facets of her in Kahaani 2.
Is the story based in Kolkata again?
Largely. But I'll shoot parts of it in another location. Probably Nepal. (Laughs) Ashchhe bochhor abar hobe!
And Bob Biswas? Does he come back too?
But where are Apu's (Saswata Chatterjee's) dates? He is so busy with so many projects... Trust me, if you can get me his dates, I'll give it a serious thought (smiles).
Apu is such an amazing actor and I would love to work with him again. I've known him since his childhood, when he would come to our Bhawanipore para with his father Subhendu Chatterjee to
visit his grandfather. Actors like him, who have a theatre background, are so impromptu. There's something so organic about their acting ' very gut, very ad hoc. The only other person like that I've worked with is Mr Bachchan. I defined Bob the assassin's character very simply to Apu. I told him, "Amar ekta binito Bob chai." So he thought about it and added the balding look, the paunch, the shuffling gait. Someone who arrives like a bhadralok, does a namaskar, pulls out the gun and fires. Looking back, how has Kahaani changed your life?
It has changed my life in the sense that it has given me one more chance to make another film (laughs). Had it flopped, it would have been the end to my filmmaking career. People will say that I'm blowing my own trumpet, but it felt great that Kahaani brought me both critical and commercial success. I didn't ask for it, but now that I have it, besh bhaloi lagchhe (laughs).
Only a few people have always had faith in me. The fact that Mr Bachchan wants to work with me, that Vidya wants to work with me again ' I'm very happy. The fact that Naseerji has seen Kahaani ' twice ' and called me to say that he'd liked it is like winning an Oscar for me.
The film has also been a gamechanger for Kolkata...
I'm so proud that we made a thriller like Kahaani sitting here in Kolkata. And why not? Satyajit Ray made all his timeless films here. For me, the idea was to take Kolkata to people outside Kolkata. They need to understand and own this city and you don't have to be a Bengali for that. As long as you're an Indian, Kolkata belongs to you. We need to spread this message. There are immense resources, locations and stories that connect with Kolkata.
And in this endeavour, Bumbada (actor Prosenjit Chatterjee) was an immense inspiration. He's very proud of the technical expertise here. He was also feeling pretty bad je ekhane kichhu hochchhe na. When he met me, he told me that I had to do something here. I'm glad I could do that.
And finally, something about Badla...
I'm working on the script. I have the story, it's about revenge. At the germ level, everything is final but I'm still working on which aspects of revenge I want to focus on. What I find most interesting is the effect revenge has on the people around the protagonist. So there's this one person: he's 60-plus, has a family, lots of responsibilities. He wants to take revenge on his childhood friend. But he also knows his friend's family well ' so how does go about taking revenge? What effect will his action have on his friend's family? There are moral and ethical issues involved. Yes, I've spoken to Naseerji and Mr Bachchan, but no one's on board yet. Till I lock the script, it would be disrespectful to even go to them and talk.
----------------
Vidya's new kahaani? Feluda!
Director Sujoy Ghosh on scripting Kahaani 2 and why he's not ruled out the return of Bob Biswas
Satadru Ojha
It's six months to the day since the Kahaani (released March 9) of his life changed. But the accolades haven't changed Sujoy Ghosh. When we meet him, the director is immersed in Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay's children's story, Gourer Koboch. "Shobkota Shirshendu eksathe porey phelbo," he says, before settling down for this interview. Here's Sujoy on spinning stories, Vidya (Bagchi and Balan) and bringing Amitabh Bachchan and Naseeruddin Shah together for the first time.
Six months on, you've finally started working on the Kahaani sequel...
This is my sabbatical year, when I won't make films but sit back and work on a script ' actually two of them. So I have Badla, a revenge tale where I want to cast Mr (Amitabh) Bachchan and Naseerji (Naseeruddin Shah). And yes, I'm working on Kahaani 2. It'll be a true sequel, where the story of the first film moves forward.
And which way does it move?
It's Vidya's (Bagchi) story. I want to know what happens to her, what happens to Rana (Parambrata Chattopadhyay), to Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). You'll get to see a new Vidya (Balan), more physical. And she'll have to train hard for it. It's something she's uncomfortable with, which is why I'll make her do just that. Feluda hobe Vidya.
Vidya's character is constantly chased by her guilt ' that had she not sent her husband to Kolkata, he might have been still living, she might have had a family. Which is why, after his death, there's a desperation in her. She invites danger, the impulse is almost self-destructive. It's as if she wants to kill herself. We'll explore these facets of her in Kahaani 2.
Is the story based in Kolkata again?
Largely. But I'll shoot parts of it in another location. Probably Nepal. (Laughs) Ashchhe bochhor abar hobe!
And Bob Biswas? Does he come back too?
But where are Apu's (Saswata Chatterjee's) dates? He is so busy with so many projects... Trust me, if you can get me his dates, I'll give it a serious thought (smiles).
Apu is such an amazing actor and I would love to work with him again. I've known him since his childhood, when he would come to our Bhawanipore para with his father Subhendu Chatterjee to
visit his grandfather. Actors like him, who have a theatre background, are so impromptu. There's something so organic about their acting ' very gut, very ad hoc. The only other person like that I've worked with is Mr Bachchan. I defined Bob the assassin's character very simply to Apu. I told him, "Amar ekta binito Bob chai." So he thought about it and added the balding look, the paunch, the shuffling gait. Someone who arrives like a bhadralok, does a namaskar, pulls out the gun and fires. Looking back, how has Kahaani changed your life?
It has changed my life in the sense that it has given me one more chance to make another film (laughs). Had it flopped, it would have been the end to my filmmaking career. People will say that I'm blowing my own trumpet, but it felt great that Kahaani brought me both critical and commercial success. I didn't ask for it, but now that I have it, besh bhaloi lagchhe (laughs).
Only a few people have always had faith in me. The fact that Mr Bachchan wants to work with me, that Vidya wants to work with me again ' I'm very happy. The fact that Naseerji has seen Kahaani ' twice ' and called me to say that he'd liked it is like winning an Oscar for me.
The film has also been a gamechanger for Kolkata...
I'm so proud that we made a thriller like Kahaani sitting here in Kolkata. And why not? Satyajit Ray made all his timeless films here. For me, the idea was to take Kolkata to people outside Kolkata. They need to understand and own this city and you don't have to be a Bengali for that. As long as you're an Indian, Kolkata belongs to you. We need to spread this message. There are immense resources, locations and stories that connect with Kolkata.
And in this endeavour, Bumbada (actor Prosenjit Chatterjee) was an immense inspiration. He's very proud of the technical expertise here. He was also feeling pretty bad je ekhane kichhu hochchhe na. When he met me, he told me that I had to do something here. I'm glad I could do that.
And finally, something about Badla...
I'm working on the script. I have the story, it's about revenge. At the germ level, everything is final but I'm still working on which aspects of revenge I want to focus on. What I find most interesting is the effect revenge has on the people around the protagonist. So there's this one person: he's 60-plus, has a family, lots of responsibilities. He wants to take revenge on his childhood friend. But he also knows his friend's family well ' so how does go about taking revenge? What effect will his action have on his friend's family? There are moral and ethical issues involved. Yes, I've spoken to Naseerji and Mr Bachchan, but no one's on board yet. Till I lock the script, it would be disrespectful to even go to them and talk.
comment:
p_commentcount