Friday Review
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Of abiding family bonds
RANA SIDDIQUI
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Pradeep Sarkar’s take on human relationships, “Laaga Chunari Mein Daag” kisses the silver screen this Friday. He speaks on the making of this intense film.
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Rani Mukerji resembles Anupam Kher in her smile and eye language.
As I see it Pradeep Sarkar owes his beautiful frames and storytelling power to the discipline of ad making.
I had tears in my eyes by the time Adi (Aditya Chopra) finished narrating the story of two sisters. He asked, ‘Can we make a film on this?’ I was so moved that I wanted to make it at any cost.” This is Pradeep Sarkar revealing why he decided to make “Laaga Chunari Mein Daag” that hits the silver screen today.
The story, adds Sarkar, is about a close-knit family. The relationship between two sisters and their bond with the parents is woven along with the journey of a woman. It is about her move to Mumbai to run the family and how the family takes it when she falls from grace.
On the interesting and new combination of actors — Anupam Kher and Jaya Bhaduri as the parents of sisters played by Rani Mukerji and Konkona Sen, he says, “I paired them because of their similar looks. If you see Jaya Bhaduri’s first Bengali film ‘Mahanagar’ you will notice that she looks exactly as Konkana Sen Sharma looks today. And Rani Mukerji resembles Anupam Kher in her smile and eye language. In the film, Chutki (Konkona) resembles her mother and Badki (Rani) looks like her father. This combination has worked so well in family frames that they look like members of a real family.”
On Banaras as the backdrop of the film, Sarkar elucidates, “I wanted to show people in whom tradition is ingrained rather than forced. A song in the movie says , ‘Sabki rago mein khoon bahe hai, meri rago mein Ganga maiyya’. I want to convey what I believe, that is, middle class families which are rooted to tradition and live in direct contact with nature are usually happy. They don’t fight nature, rather, they stay with it and never complain about its extremes or fury. Those living in metro cities do. The family in the film is rooted to tradition and nature and so is a happy one.”
This is an intense film and Sarkar says for that he needed to keep his crew in a light mood. For100 days of shooting in Banaras, Mumbai and Switzerland, he kept the ambience casual. “Artistes should never be pressurised, especially when it involves an intense film. They shouldn’t feel like running away from the role. Otherwise, the stress shows in the performance,” he reasons.
Visual poetry
Sarkar is known for the visual poetry he creates and the dialogues. His debut film “Parineeta’” and then “Eklavya, The Royal Guard” in which he was the visual director, speak volumes about his command over the medium. He owes it to his training in ad making.
“In the world of advertisements, we are taught to convey the maximum within a short time and that there is no need to repeat to emphasise. Just touch the right chord and go, if the nuances and the performances are right, the message gets conveyed. We were also taught how background music plays a vital role in creating a mood. How each frame means money and it bears the signature of its maker. I have always kept one thing in mind: simplify the message and don’t oversize the frame. My training in ad making has disciplined me. Despite everything, the story remains the king. If a story doesn’t have the power to move you, all disciplines fall flat.”
The story of this film has many layers. And he has expressed them through his experiences and observations of life. “I am 53 now. I have seen life enough. I meet people every day. They are my stories. I used to read a lot but now I know kitna bhi kitab padho, life ki kitab hi sikhati hai (the book of life teaches you more than the books themselves).”
The memories of his “Parineeta” are still fresh in people’s mind and hence comparisons with “Parineeta” are inevitable. “I just have to say that I have seen ‘Laaga Chunari…..’ about 2000 times and never felt bored. I expect the audience to go into the minds of the characters and try to understand how their each movement is justified. I am not scared of the response,” he says on a serious note.
Three more to go
This is Sarkar’s first film under the Yash Raj Banner and “three more are in the pipe line” he reveals. He has signed a-three-year contract with the banner.
This father of three grown-up children, one of whom is a “cool dude” of 18, never stops making ads. “I have recently finished doing a TVS and a Dabur ad. The world of ads is very satisfying. It enriches me with experiences of meeting all kinds of people.”
One wonders why a man of such imagination is himself “not techno-savvy”. “I don’t know all that e-mail, she-mail,” he says while calling out to his assistant, ‘what is my email number…?’”
Is this the innocence that wins all hearts?
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
