Aparna Sen started her career as a child actor when Satyajit Ray cast her in one of the portions of Teen Kanya (1961). She went on to act in Mrinal Sen’s Akash Kusum, and further established herself as a mainstream actor in the 1970s. It was in 1981, when she made her directorial debut with 36 Chowringhee Lane, a film that received universal acclaim, and fetched her the National Award for Best Director. Since then, Sen has been a prolific presence- both on screen and behind it, paving the way for a remarkable body of work. (Also read: Aparna Sen: When I act in my films, I don’t get the benefit of my supervision)
With Parama- A Journey with Aparna Sen, filmmaker Suman Ghosh takes the documentary approach to take a look at her life journey, from an actor to a screenwriter, director, and an editor. In an exclusive chat with Hindustan Times, Suman Ghosh opened up about the journey of their friendship, how this documentary came about and more.
How long have you known Aparna Sen? Tell me a little bit about how you were introduced to her.
I was introduced to her in 2015 when I was doing a film called Kadambari, starring her daughter Konkona Sen Sharma. Then I got to know her, and after that she acted in one of my films, Basu Poribar. Then, I knew her much better. We connected at many levels. She is a filmmaker, yes, but also an avid reader. I also love reading. We connected on books, and then I used to go to her place for several addas… that is how the relationship started.
When did you first think of her as a subject for a documentary?
Apart from my role as a filmmaker, I also write for Anadabazar Patrika, The Telegraph occasionally. I was quite frustrated by the interviews of legendary people in recent times. I remember having interviewed Soumitra Chatterjee a few years ago, and it was a different sort of piece, not the usual banal questions that are asked which they are also tired to answer. In a similar way, I had also interviewed Aparna Sen three years ago, in her home in Shantiniketan. It was quite an exhaustive interview, starting from her childhood, with Chidananda Dasgupta, and then ending with her filmmaking journey. For that interview, I had prepared before, because I interacted with her as a friend. When I was doing the research, I realized the entire gamut of her work. Not only as a filmmaker, but also as an actor and then her role as an editor of the fortnightly Sananda, a Bengali women’s magazine, which changed the landscape for journalism in India for sure.
I found the entire breath of her work quite amazing. I thought it would be a challenge to portray this, taking into account the archival value also. That was the first time when I thought of doing a documentary on her. Also, we have a habit of celebrating people posthumously. Rather than when they are here.
Aparna Sen’s journey is so multifaceted. There is no way one can see her body of work from a single lens. As a filmmaker, did you have a road map of sorts on how to navigate her journey?
What was most interesting for me, as I said, is the gamut of her work… how to capture that in the film? So I thought of an interesting narrative device. What I did was I took her to different locations where she shot her iconic films, like 36 Chowringhee Lane, Paromitar Ek Din and Parama. When I went there we were discussing the films but also the various topics came into our discussion so that is why the film is also called ‘A Journey with Aparna Sen.’
For instance when we are talking about Parama, we are talking about her feminism. When we are talking about Mr. and Mrs. Iyer we are talking about the political backdrop and then we bring in her engagement with the right-wing politics here in India. That’s how I was trying to structure the narrative of the film in order to bring the many elements together within 80 minutes.
What was her reaction when you first dropped the prospect of making a documentary on her?
I wrote to her from the US. I Whatsapp-ed her and said, ‘I have decided I am going to make a documentary on you.’ She said okay and that was it! By that time we were such close friends that the question of taking permission did not happen. She trusts me and yeah, it was as simple as that.
Before making the film, you must have had a perception of her as a filmmaker. After the film, do you think any of that perception has changed?
Good question, because I only told her that after the film, unfortunately, I feel distanced with her. There are two reasons for that! First of all in the course of making the film for one and a half years during the shoot, I did not interact with her… the addas, which were the starting point of her relationship, with her and her husband Kalyan Ray… I stopped going to their place because I did not want to colour my opinion from my subject.
After the film, I realized wow! She has done so much in her life, the corpus of her work! There is a word in Bengali, সম্ভ্রম (Sombhrom, which means regard and reverence), that was never there. It is unfortunate also because that close friendship probably might be disturbed because of this extreme awe of her and looking back at her gamut of work. But I think it will get diluted very soon and we will get back to our camaraderie.
Aparna Sen paved the way for so many female filmmakers with her work. But do you also see the dearth of Bengali female directors, and do you see a change?
I think, in the national scenario, a lot of female directors have come up. Starting from Payal Kapadia to Zoya Akhtar and so on. But in Bengal there is certainly a lack of good filmmakers and I think it will take time. In the national level there are so many, I am sure more will come up soon.
Parama- A Journey with Aparna Sen released in theatres on January 3.