DIRECTOR’S CHOICE: Raveena Tandon and (above) Sudipto Chattopadhyay

Filmmaker Sudipto Chattopadhyay, who has an MPhil in English literature from Oxford University, is in the news for his second Hindi film Shobhana’s Seven Nights, which has been doing the rounds at international film festivals. It’s also won a clutch of awards for Raveena Tandon who plays the role of a rich socialite — and gossip column writer — who boldly picks up a gigolo for a night of pleasure and then develops a strange bond with him. The Calcutta-born Chattopadhyay was in Chennai recently to promote his film when Kavitha Shanmugam caught up with him. Excerpts from the interview

Some say the character of Shobhana Gujral in the film is inspired by writer and columnist Shobhaa Dé…

The movie is about a gossip columnist and pulp fiction writer, and most people are assuming that it’s about Shobhaa Dé. I would say some traits of the character — such as her spunk and attitude — are inspired by her, but the story is not. Shobhaa Dé is a dear friend and a very different person from the one depicted in the film. However, her publisher is called Harry Davidar in the film and the logo of his publishing house does look like a penguin. That part is deliberate (smiles mischievously).

What was Shobhaa Dé’s reaction to your film?

She is livid! I told her that I have clarified in all my interviews that it is not about her. I told her to see the film and then decide for herself.

Wasn’t Shobhana’s Seven Nights born out of an incident you witnessed in real life?

Yes. I saw a middle-aged woman pick up a man at Lokhandwala in Mumbai one day. There are many struggling models and actors who need to pay their rent and they turn gigolos. This is an easy way to earn Rs 4,000-5,000. I saw they were haggling over the price as the woman quoted Rs 7,000 for two women plus drinks. They were affluent women in their 40s, probably lonely wives of corporate honchos. This is the starting point of my film. I try to understand how two people from two different strata of society feel drawn to each other.

What prompted you to make Bollywood films after you did your MPhil from Oxford?

I was good in academics and I topped the university studying at Presidency College, Calcutta. It was difficult to say no to a Rhodes scholarship to go to Oxford. But I was fascinated by cinema from childhood. I used to do a lot of theatre and was also part of a film society when I was in high school. Even now I watch nearly 30 foreign films a month.

But I grew up with Bengali cinema. I got inspired to do cinema because of Satyajit Ray. Other filmmakers who have inspired me are Ritwik Ghatak and Ingmar Bergman. After doing my MPhil, I decided not to waste any more time. It was a big decision. But I did not want to teach Macbeth for the rest of my life. I’d rather read Macbeth on my own. So I joined the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in the early 1990s. My father was supportive, but my teachers were shocked that I was not completing my PhD.

How did you get your Bollywood break?

After FTII, I did loads of TV and advertising. Initially I was based in Calcutta and then I shifted to Mumbai in 2001. Initially, I was signed on by a management guru-turned-film producer to make a film. But that did not work out. Then I joined Sanjay Gupta’s film production company and wrote three of the stories in his film Dus Kahaniyan. The doors open for you when you work for people like him.

Your first feature Pankh was loosely based on actress Sarika’s life.

Yes, I happened to know about the torture she went through as a child. She was cross-dressed in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Majhli Didi and other films. Changing a child’s gender identity can be traumatic for the child. Finally, Sarika had to run away from her mother.

When I first narrated the story to Sarika she got very emotionally disturbed. She said that she would have a nervous breakdown if she did the role since it was so close to her life. Later, I was happy she did not do it since Lilette Dubey, who is a constant in all my films, did such a marvellous job in that role.

How would you describe your films?

My cinema is not escapist fare. I feel close to the movies made by Dibakar Banerjee. He makes films about serious issues in a light-hearted manner. There are lots of subtexts and layers in his films. I feel Anurag Kashyap’s persona overrides his work sometimes. I liked Gangs of Wasseypur 2 but he is a little too flamboyant.

How does the audience react to the kind of films you make? Is Bollywood changing?

We are still marginal filmmakers. Mainstream Bollywood continues to rule and has become more regressive. Take movies like Rowdy Rathore. People are flocking to these films because television has made audiences addicted to regression.

Why has Bollywood caught the fancy of the West?

There is tremendous interest in Bollywood because of its colour, song, dance and larger-than-life image. For the West, Bollywood is a circus — they are so condescending towards Hindi cinema. However, they find the escapism intriguing. How can a country with such poverty dream of such opulence!

What next?

I’m ready to make a Bengali film. I’ve also written a novel and a book of essays on art, culture, literature, society and cinema which I will publish early next year. I also teach cinema at the India Study Abroad Centre in Mumbai, the FTII and in US colleges.