What made you choose poetry to put on film?
Why not? I had thought of making this film long before I had begun work on Saanjbaatir Roopkathara. Joy Goswami is a personal favourite. Besides, there was this challenge of transforming poetry into a prose script and then placing it on celluloid without changing the essence of the original work. I have shown Joy the script and he is happy. I am trying to link this to Saanjbaatir Roopkathara.
What is the poem about?
It is an autobiographical long poem of three segments. The dramatised version has only one segment. The film will have all three. It is Arani, a poet's narration of his relationship with three women in his life. The structure moves in time. The first segment deals with Arani's negotiations with his sister Laboni and his aunt after having lost his mother in childhood. The sister's failed love affair with her private tutor hurts him deeply and drives him to write poetry. He then falls in love with Radha. But Radha gets married to someone else. In course of time, Arani becomes a famous poet. He meets another young woman, Apara. Arani soon realises that Apara lacks depth. There is a writer's block in Arani. He meets Radha after a long interval at a railway station. She has walked out of a bad marriage. Will the two take up from where they left off? Will Arani begin to write again? These questions are intercut with Joy's poetry, working like a thread weaving the different segments of Arani's life together.
You are fond of rain, aren't you?
Yes. I guess I am. Rain is a physical reality in my films. It is a wonder of Nature, and also a metaphor. "You can smell the rain if the painting is loyal to it," said Tukun's father, a painter, to his daughter in Saanjbaatir Roop-kathara which was based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel titled Sreekanta.
In Ebong Sreekanto also, I have used the rain to express Rajlakshmi's feelings for Sreekanto. In Faltu, rain is a character in itself. The same applies to Jara Brishtitey Bhijechhilo. The English translation of the Bengali title is Walking in the Rain. All the characters in this film keep walking in the rain. Here, rain signifies pain, the struggle of living, the mystery of the unknown, the romantic feelings of love, the exotica linked to sexuality, and the mystique of poetry - everything. I find the same emotions in Joy Goswami's poetry. I have complete faith in my technical crew about bringing these abstract feelings across on celluloid.
Who have you chosen to play the characters in the film?
Joy Sengupta plays Arani, the poet. I saw his performance in Govind Nihalani's Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa and liked it. Indrani Haldar is playing Radha, perhaps the most challenging role in the film. She is so dedicated to her work and her research is so amazing that she leaves me no option but to cast her as Radha. Churni Ganguly plays Rina, Radha's childhood friend, while Ishwari Bhattacharya plays Apara and Sudip Mukherjee plays Radha's husband.
We hear there is a lesbian angle in the script?
Yes, there is. And it is this lesbian inclination that shocks Arani and pushes him away from Apara. Roopa Ganguly plays a brief but significant role in the film. Soumitra Chatterjee, Alakananda Ray, Abaninath Bhatta-charya and Biplab Chattopadhyay also feature in it. I have plans to persuade Joy Goswami to recite his poems himself in the film.
Who are the producers?
Deepanwita Ghosh is producing the film under the banner of Rose Valley Telefilms Limited. Ghosh has also written the screenplay. Jyotiskha Dasgupta will write the musical score, the production design is by Indraneel Ghosh and editing is by Sanjeeb Dutta.
We have shot the film in different places in Kolkata and the suburbs and have even shot one segment in Shantiniketan and perhaps, some scenes in Gangtok. I have used one Tagore composition in the film that suggests a night of storm and rain and love.